


To the Mystery Beyond

by Percy_Anthony



Category: Ghost - Mystery Skulls (Music Video)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Fluff, Multi, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-20
Updated: 2015-01-21
Packaged: 2018-02-26 08:35:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 26,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2645273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Percy_Anthony/pseuds/Percy_Anthony
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Drabble collection for the characters from the Mystery Skulls animated video. <br/>Official ended because I haven't had a good idea in way to long! Thanks for all the love, in the future I might post some good one-shots if I get inspired! <3</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Warmth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lewis thinks about warmth, and what it means to him.

They always said he was warm.

When the van was cold at night and the thin blankets the gang had weren't enough to keep Vivi and Arthur comfortably warm, it was just unspoken that it wouldn't take long for the two to scurry over to Lewis to cuddle up next to him. Arthur, with more hesitation of course, but he came over too eventually. Lewis didn't mind at all, he was happy to help out his friends, and it reminded him of before the "accident". Back then they cuddled up with him too, yet not because he had glorious hair made of fire, but because the big tall guy just seemed like the right person to go to when cold. They weren't wrong to think so, Lewis always did his best to help keep them comfortable. Yet now it didn't feel the same anymore, it felt wrong almost. Lewis couldn't understand completely, he himself didn't feel warm at all. To be honest, Lewis wasn't sure he even remembered what being warm felt like.

Since before the cave, and the time he had spent in the mansion afterwards, he hadn't been warm at all. He felt like he was in a perpetual state of cold, and no matter how many fires he lit, he stayed that way. It made him angry, but more so, it made him feel sick. Not ill sick, but sick in the sense that he was wrong, like he wasn't normal. Of course, being a skeleton ghost with affinity to fire wasn't _exactly_ normal either. Yet, he just felt wrong. Sometimes before she fell asleep, comforted by the warmth he provided, Vivi would whisper, "You're so warm". It made him think. What was it like to be warm anymore? He vaguely remembers the sensation of warmth, but it's distant and on the verge of being forgotten completely. Every time Vivi said those words it was a quick reminder to Lewis of something he desperately wished wasn't true: he is dead.

Lewis looked to his right side where Arthur lay, sprawled out across Lewis' legs snoring quietly. He'd come to forgiven Arthur, Lewis had never been able to stay angry at his friends for long. Lewis still couldn't help but be upset by his death though, understandably so, he had avoided the topic completely after he and Arthur had had the conversation about the possession and what really happened in that cave. Late in the night though, when everyone was sleeping and Lewis, incapable of truly sleeping was left to his thoughts. He felt it the worst now, the cold. Cold being something he remembered perfectly. Since his "revival" as the specter he is now, cold was really the only thing he could feel. Even with Vivi to his left, leaned up against him huddled under the blanket, Arthur to his right, and Mystery curled up at his feet. He was still cold. There was nothing he could do about it, at least nothing natural. And being "natural", or well human-like, was Lewis' main goal as of late.  Since rejoining his friends he'd spent hours perfecting holding his human form for long periods of time, sadly he just couldn't get his eyes to look normal. The hollow look they had was just hideous to him. He couldn't imagine what his friends though when they look at them. Or his true skeleton form.   
  
He shuddered just thinking what they must really think about that frightening appearance of his. Lewis just couldn't understand why they felt so keen to get so close to him, _he was a monster_. A truly, horrendous monster at that. Yet here they were sleeping away like this wasn't a big deal. He sighed, closed his eyes to focus. Pulling up his human looking form with some effort, he let his breath go. To anyone who would look in a van window now, they just looked like close friends. It still wasn't enough for Lewis though, even like this in a human state he still felt the permeating cold beat at him.   
  
"Why can't I catch a break?" he whispered to nothing. Even the sound of his voice made him cringe, it had a small echo like sound to it and it was just further evidence to his inhuman nature.  He wished there was just one part of him that was the same as it had been before. He just wished, he could be warm for just one minute one more time.   
  
As Lewis stared off into space, he failed to notice Arthur stirring. Eyes fluttering open still half asleep, Arthur looked up at his friend in confusion. Lewis never put on his human image unless they were going out into the public. Having it up right now, in private, when everyone was asleep no less didn't make any sense to him at all. He took in the melancholic look on the violet haired boys face, and knew almost immediately something was up. Arthur may be a coward, but he was anything but stupid. He can tell when something is wrong with his friends.

"Hey, Lewis, what you doing man? It's like three in the morning bud." he said in a hushed voice. Lewis looked down at Arthur surprised, being drawn out of his thoughts so fast the illusion of his human body flickered for a second. The look on Lewis' face put a smile on Arthur's face, Lewis had always been horrible at hiding his emotions. The smile didn't last long though, because it was still obvious something was bothering Lewis. If he didn't confront him about it Lewis would refuse to talk about it. For someone as kind and cuddly as Lewis he was downright stubborn and obtuse when it came to talking about himself. 

"Arthur, did I wake you?" Lewis said, human facade not falling.

"Nah man, but what's with the illusion, there's no one around for miles you've got nothing to worry about."  
  
"I'm uh, practicing?"  
  
Arthur gave him a look that was filled with disbelief, another wonderful thing about Lewis. He couldn't lie. At all. Considering the faint color that was brushing his "cheeks" now, it was more than obvious he was lying.  
  
"Lewis, what's wrong?"  
  
The silence that followed was telling enough. Lewis looked away, allowing the illusion to drop. Fiery hair, taking the place of what had appeared to be his natural hair, sparked lowly filling the van with a soft pink glow. While lately, Arthur had found some comfort in the glow (especially in dark creepy crypts that Vivi dragged them into) right now it just felt sad. Cold almost. A wave of realization came over him, maybe that was it? Could ghosts get cold? Eyeing the flaming poof of "hair" Arthur assumed that it must be possible. Leave it to Lewis to not voice his own discomfort just to not bother anyone. Tugging at the blanket that Arthur had claimed for himself that night he moved it to spread over Lewis' lap as well, then moved himself up closer to his friend so he could stay under the blanket as well. Lewis looked over at Arthur again, confusion spelled out across his skully features.  
  
"No need to worry man, I got ya. You get warmed up too okay? Can't have that fire of yours goin' out can we?" 

With that Arthur curled back down again and closed his eyes, ready to go back to sleep, proud of himself for saving Lewis from his plight. Even though for Lewis, nothing had really changed. He did feel better somehow. The feeling of cold was leaving him, and he was almost sure that it wasn't because of the light blanket his thick browed friend had spread over him. Eyeing Arthur, then Vivi, and lastly Mystery, he felt happy. He felt a warmth that he had almost forgotten.  
  
Lewis decided right then, that this warmth was far better than anything else. Even if he was cold occasionally, he didn't think it would matter anymore. He's got his family with him, and that's all the warmth he thinks he will ever need.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, if y'all see any errors or such tell me and I'll correct them. <3 More soon-ish. Any prompts welcome.


	2. First Encounters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vivi recalls her first encounter with a real spirit, shortly after the team get's back from their first successful ghost hunt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before Lewis' death.

Vivi flopped down onto the cheap hotel bed with a sigh of relief, kicking her shoes off with little effort as she relished in the comfort of the sheets. The day had been long, and she was more than ready to just lay down and get some sweet shut eye. The boys were probably getting ready to sleep in the other room at this minute, why shouldn't she get some rest too? To her luck though, she just couldn't get her mind to quiet down. As always, her mind was running a mile a minute. Running down the events of the last couple of days, Vivi couldn't bring herself to sleep. Taking her glasses off she dropped them to the ground lazily next to the bed, she had no desire to get up and put them away properly. Rolling onto her back she finally let herself take in what had happened today.

She finally had proof.  
  
Ghosts were real, and she and her best friends had helped it pass on.

A grin rose on her face as she mentally marked the tally board, one point for her and who cares how many for people who used to say she was wrong. Ghosts were real, always have been and she knew how to help them. That's why she had started Mystery Skulls, to help ghosts who couldn't pass. Sure it hadn't been to successful at first. Considering the gang had only run into creeps in masks who just wanted to steal some money. That was boring, but ghosts were fascinating. She recalled the ghost that she and her friends had helped pass on today - he was just a basic spirit. Nothing over the top like a vengeful ghost, or a phantasm, or God help them all if they ever run into one - A lich. Still, the spirit was getting angrier. His family couldn't see him, and as days past he got more and more violent trying to get their attention.   
  
It was sad in her opinion actually. In the end, all the spirit had wanted was to tell his sister where he had hidden her Christmas present from the previous year. He'd died in an accident before he was able to wrap it and put it under their tree. Once the gang had been able to get the family to really see him, and he was able to tell her where it was, he passed on quickly. All the anger and rage gone, replaced by the kind person he must have been before he died. Vivi frowned, this spirit was completely unlike the other spirit she'd had close contact with. Well, the _only_ other spirit she'd had contact with.

It had been her Grandmother that had introduced her to the idea of ghosts being real, Vivi had been young. Barely even 6, when her Grandfather had passed away. From the day after the funeral and every day after, her Grandma had swore from heaven to hell and back again that her Grandpa was with them. Really, truly with them. Vivi's parents had tried to convince her that Grandma was just old and confused, but the thing was. Vivi believed her, and everyday Vivi would ask her Grandma where Grandpa was so she could say good morning or good night to him. Eventually her parents had given up and getting her to stop, Vivi had always been stubborn.  
  
This had gone on for nearly two years, and her Grandpa never became as violent and angry as this spirit had. It confused her. What made each spirit different? How they had died? What they had left to do? Who they loved, why they loved them, regrets, hopes, dreams? There were to many factors to try and wrap her head around. It was part of the reason ghosts intrigued her so much, because there was no way to tell what type of ghost a person would become until they well. Became a ghost, which really wasn't a fate anyone would want. She remembered how Grandma would always ask her Poppa to turn the heat up because Grandpa was cold. Always so cold. Even this spirit had said it, well screamed, how cold it was. 

It couldn't be a happy existence to be a ghost, even if you were with the ones you loved. Her Grandpa, turns out, had only been waiting for someone. Vivi remembered the day that her Grandpa had finally passed. At her Grandma's funeral, she saw him, standing there waiting for it to be done. She had started yelling, screaming that Grandma and Grandpa were there! She was so angry that no one else could see them, that no one else would believe her. Her parents had taken her home early and grounded her from anything ghost related for months because of it. They had to pick her up and carry her away from the funeral, tears running down her face as she watched her Grandparents fade away. Smiles on their faces, and waving to the one person who still cared enough to see them still.  
  
Vivi grabbed the cheap blanket on the bed and rolled over, effectively covering herself up and doing a fabulous impression of a burrito at the same time. She needed to sleep. Thinking about the past wasn't useful right now. Still, she wondered how someone so loving in life could become so angry in death. She wished that that would never happen to anyone she loved.   
  
She heard talking from the room on the other side of the wall, probably the boys. Mystery was probably in there too now that she thought about it. Sometimes she just wanted to give up on the whole "separate rooms" policy they had. It would probably be more fun to be in there with them then in here by herself.   
  
"Arthuuurrr, turn off your anime I wanna sleep."  
  
"Shut up Lewis I dealt with two hours of show tunes yesterday, you get anime now."  
  
She couldn't help but laugh as she overheard them talk. Vivi loved them both so much, there was no way they would become angry ghosts ever. Because she won't let them die before her. Closing her eyes finally she slowly fell asleep.  
  
"Night guys."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, if y'all see any errors or such tell me and I'll correct them. Any prompts welcome. I wanted to write something for Vivi <3 She needs more love, and I thought about this! Not sure how good it is, but I hope y'all enjoy it. I'll write a lil' something something about Arthur next time.


	3. Haunted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur didn't believe for a second it was over. This was only the beginning of a very long nightmare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After Lewis' Death, before the Mansion.

To say he was angry at himself was an understatement. He'd been so stupid. He knew better than this, had known way better than this. Hell, he'd been the one who found out that negative emotions can invite bad spirits into someone. Can cause possession! Look where his recklessness had led him. Just because he felt a little left out of the gang?? How stupid could he have been, Vivi and Lewis and Mystery all loved him. He loved them too, but because he couldn't bring himself to get over some jealousy he let something horrible happen.  
  
Even worse, Arthur thought, as he glared into the mirror in front of him, was that Vivi didn't even clearly remember the... "accident". He couldn't tell her even if he wanted too. Arthur was furious, and sad, and confused. He'd just gotten out of the shower, and was standing in front of the mirror. Glaring at the have fogged pane it with such a force that made it seem as if he was trying to make it break with just his thoughts. Then with a breath of air out, he lost his ability to be angry. Arthur was so disappointed in himself, he'd felt that jealousy in him rise up for weeks. Yet he didn't say anything to his friends, the two people who he knew would never be upset with him. Not them, never them. He couldn't be angry or upset with them either, they'd all gone through so much together. He knew exactly how they would have reacted had he told them how he felt. Mystery would cuddle him extra, Vivi would go out of her way to make sure he wasn't left out, and Lewis? Lewis would fuss over him like a mother hen would her newborn chicks. Now though, looks like it would have to be just him Viv, and Mystery trying to get by. That is, if they could manage to keep going after this. 

He lazily raked his hand through his still damp hair, trying to calm himself down further. Being angry was too dangerous, being possessed once made it real easy for someone to be possessed again. He couldn't hurt anyone again, he won't allow it. He felt so incredibly guilty, not just for what he had done (indirectly of course) to Lewis. But for the fact that he couldn't explain to Vivi what had happened, the one question she so desperately needed answered. He couldn't tell her, not with her memories as faulty as they were. Or at least that was his excuse, Arthur was too damn afraid of the backlash he might receive if he tried to tell her what had happened. He shook his head, and rubbed his eyes. Using one hand of course, the doctors had told him a prosthetic wouldn't be ready for him for a bit longer.  
  
Something in his eye hurt him though. It itched, his left eye felt as though a fire had lit itself inside his pupil. Or.   
  
More like something was trying to pull itself up out of his eye.   
  
Leaning against the counter, peering closely into the mirror trying to find the source of the disturbance, Arthur failed to notice the steam in the bathroom slowly become greener, and greener and greener. As he looked into his eye, the reflection in the mirror started to change. Looking less like himself, and more like a beast. And with a flash of movement, that Arthur did not conduct, the reflection slammed it self up against the inside of the pane. Shocked, Arthur let out a yelp and jumped away, backing up against the door in fear.  
  
"Hello. Arthur."  
  
He stared. It was him. It wasn't. It was it! IT! THE THING. Fear turned to anger, as he realized that this green spirit that had taken on his form in the mirror was the same thing that had forced him to. To... ... to... Lewis. He couldn't even make the thoughts form.  
  
"What are you doing here! Haven't you made my friends hurt enough?" The beast laughed, and the mirror cracked.   
  
"Of course not, I do enjoy watching you _writhe_ ," it chuckled, pressing it's hands up against the glass, "I could just  _feel_ the anger coming from you and had to see how you were! I needed to know. How did it feel? To push that _lumbering oaf_ off that cliff?  
  
The insult towards his late friend snapped Arthur's self control. With a flush of movement he was up against the pane of the mirror, hand pressed against it, face nearly touching the glass. Wishing he could reach in and grab it (him) by the neck and stop those words from coming out.  
  
"Don't you DARE talk about Lewis that way! You made me do that! You did it! Not me!"  
  
"You did do it though! The idea was in your head already, the thought, the emotion, the motivation. All I did was give you a little _push_ ~ ! In the right direction. Which in this case... happened to be down!!"

Arthur howled, and started slamming his fist against the pane of the mirror. Over, and over, and over, and over. Trying to get it to stop talking! He needed it to stop talking. It was all a lie, he would never want to hurt Lewis. Never!  
  
"Don't lie to yourself Arthur," the creature said, laughing with mirth all the while, "You know your mind! The dark places it's been! Killing Lewis is only the beginning! Why not expand your collection of killing. How about the blue haired one?"  
  
"SHUT UP!"  
  
He slammed his fist down, into the mirror again. Shards flew, cutting his hand open. To his horror though, the blood was green not red. He screamed, it was all he knew he could do. He was powerless. Sinking to the floor, what was steam, now green smoke circled round closer and closer to him. Encircling him like a gaseous python. Arthur's breaths came shorter, he gasped trying to get his lungs to catch something other than the horrid smoke. The smoke, that now, formed itself into the shape of a snake, bearing its fangs menacingly it lunged and -  
  
 _"Arthur! Arthur! Wake up! Come on! Wake up!"_

He opened his eyes, sitting up and observing the room around him. Vivi was sitting next to his bed, hand on his good shoulder, looking at him with concern.  
  
"You were having a nightmare, are you alright?"  
  
"I... oh uh. Yea. Yea, sorry."  
  
She smiled softly, yet the sadness and concern never left her eyes.  
  
"Okay, I'm going to go get some coffee downstairs, you want some?"  
  
"Huh? Oh sure."  
  
With short hesitation to leave him alone, Vivi headed out the door.  
  
Arthur looked down to his remaining hand, and the blood mark there told him one thing.   
  
"That was no nightmare."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, if y'all see any errors or such tell me and I'll correct them. Any prompts welcome. Kind of worked with this off the prompt I was given about Arthur getting possessed and the others having to swoop in and save him. Not really what the prompt was, but Viv technically did do a thing to help out. Hhh, I love Arthur. 
> 
> Also. If you also love Arthur. Check out cyborgdorito on tumblr, they are awesome. <3


	4. The Bird King

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang learns what "virgin" blood really means...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on lovi's prompt for "kidnapped Arthur". Before the accident. Also, in my fics Mystery Skulls will be facing *real* specters most of the time. Some are just more powerful than others.

When the gang heard that the local cult that was kidnapping people were after those of "virgin blood", to be honest Arthur thought that he was safe. He didn't know about the others, but he was completely and utterly convinced that he wasn't going to be a target this time. That for once, he wouldn't be the damsel in distress needing to be rescued.   
  
Boy was he wrong. _Apparently_ , to Arthur's dismay, "virgin" blood meant blood that had never been used in a ritual before. So lo and behold, here Arthur is. Tied up, sitting on top of an altar that he didn't want to know what type of things had been done on. With a bunch of freaks in weird bird masks surrounding him. The only upside to this is, hey, he found all the missing towns people! Yet, this semi-act of triumph was short lived by the fact that these weirdos were brandishing their knives at him! Apparently they planned on summoning some ancient Bird Spirit. Thing. To do something sinister and bird-like. To do that, apparently they needed about a dozen or so sacrifices for it when it arrived, hence the townsfolk, or it would eat the summoners themselves. Along with, virgin blood.

He and the people of the town were being held in a large cave in the forest. Right now they were in the main chamber, all the people were tied up along the floor in front of the altar. On each of their foreheads, and his too, was a symbol. What the symbols meant, Arthur didn't care, it was bad. Above them, the light of the full moon (cliche but apparently it's necessary for bird summoning rituals) shined in through the open mouth of the cave. If people on the surface weren't paying attention, they would fall in and plummet to a very, very gruesome death. The only other light in the cave was a large stone brazier with a fire inside, the whole atmosphere of the cave just reeked with evil.

Arthur was sat on top of the altar quite upset, understandably of course, hoping to hell that Lewis and Vivi got there before these guys bled him out like, as they described, "veal". Near the altar was a podium on which an ancient looking book sat, if Vivi saw this book she would probably kill to get her hands on it. One of the cultists stood there, most likely to read the incantation for the summoning. After reading a passage quickly they nodded toward the leader. The only indication that the leader was different than the normal cultists was that the color of his bird mask was black instead of white. Once the leader of the cult saw the nod he stepped forward to Arthur, in his hand was a very ornate and curving knife, much more ornate than those of the normal cultists. It was about eight inches long and had a lot of freaky stuff carved onto the blade, that no matter what it actually translated too, Arthur would always say that it said "my name is death and here I come". Speaking of death here I come, the leader of the cult was now standing directly in front of Arthur.  
  
"Now we shall commence the ritual, to summon our great lord! The King of the Sky! With this blood, and these sacrifices, they shall once again reign over the land with terror and fear!"  
  
The cultist roared in glee, all raising their knives to the sky. Arthur shook in fear, mouth to dry to even try and plead for the man to stop. Switching his knife back and forth from both hands he continued.  
  
"Now my brothers! My sisters! My family! Prepare to see our King, do not fear the light! Begin the incantation!!!"  
  
Arthur looked over at the cultist standing with the book as they began to speak. The words that fell from their mask-hidden lips sounded like nothing he'd ever heard before. It was not a natural language at all, he could feel it, the words this cultist was speaking was something dark and disturbing. The cultists body seemed to shake as the incantation continued, their voice becoming more strained as they read, like they were in pain. A sudden wetness on Arthur's cheeks shocked him. He hadn't realized he'd been crying. This was way above the Mystery Skulls gangs level, they'd only dealt with low level spirits! How could they handle a Bird Spirit like they were describing?? A King of the Sky? What is it? A dragon??   
  
The voice of the cultist started to sound louder and louder, the sound that before did not echo now did so as if they were in a tremendously large cavern. Every sound in the room seemed to repeat itself a thousand times over. The markings on the altar, and the blades of the cultists began to glow a deep red. Like blood, Arthur thought, and he had to wonder even now how many people had been sacrificed to this Bird King...  
  
Red liquid began pouring form the eye holes of the mask that the reading cultist was wearing. The leader pushed Arthur back against the altar and raised his dagger, that now gave off a light so intense that Arthur had to close his eyes. It was then that Arthur realized something. Vivi, Lewis, and Mystery. They were to late, there was probably no way to stop the summoning now.   
  
A piercing, burning pain in his shoulder told Arthur that the leader had plunged the knife into him. With a howl of pain Arthur opened his eyes, to see several things. For once, the reading cultist was now dead upon the ground. Well he thinks he's dead. All the other cultists were shying away from the scene that was forming before them. A glowing light that was forming about the alter, the moonlight from above no longer filling the cave with a calm glow, as if the moon itself had turned away from the gruesome scene. The light was twisting and spiraling into a shape that was slowly becoming more and more bird like. Lastly, he noticed a rope. Descending from the mouth of the cave above, with three very important persons half way down it. Vivi, with Mystery in her bag, and Lewis. He glanced at the cultists, they hadn't noticed them thanks to the moon no longer giving them light to see.   
  
"Soon my King you shall be in our realm! Where you can take back what was wrongfully taken from you! Your feast is ready, your bowl is full, come! Come to my my King! And I will be your Shepard!!"  
  
The leader ripped the knife up out of Arthur's shoulder, jolting him and causing him to cry out in pain again. The tears fell from his eyes more rapidly now, his heart beating so fast he felt as if it wasn't beating at all. The leader raised the knife again, higher, and began to plummet it back down to stab him once again. The blow never landed though, in a flash Mystery tackled the cultist to the ground, biting down on the knife arm. Arthur looked to the rope again; Vivi was almost down and Lewis, who was moving much slower, wasn't all to far behind her. It was then that the light above him took a proper form, incomplete and imperfect, but it now did resemble a large Bird, luckily it was not indeed a dragon.   
  
"The rope my lord! The rope! Blasphemers have come to try and take away your glory once again! Take them down!"  
  
The bird turned it's ugly, head of light towards the rope and flew. It circled again and again.  
  
"Lewis hurry and get down!!" Vivi yelled  as she got off the rope.  
  
"I'm trying!" he called back, far to high on the rope to just jump, fear laced his trembling voice.  
  
Arthur sat up, and rolled himself off the altar, ready to run towards the rope to try and help. Even with his arms bound, he wouldn't let his friends get hurt. The leader throw Mystery off of him, and tackled Arthur to the ground, just as the ugly bird swooped and cut the rope. Just below where Lewis hanged from the remainder of it's length.  
  
"LEWIS!!" Arthur cried trying to get out from under the leader. Lewis pulled himself higher on the rope, getting a better grip on it.  
  
"I'll be okay!," Lewis called, "Vivi stop the summoning somehow!! We can't let this thing get any stronger!"  
  
Vivi looked torn between staying where she was or attempting to do something. Her decision was made for her as the bird turned to swoop down at her, forcing her to run.   
  
The leader called out in glee, sitting up keeping one knee on Arthur's back to keep him from moving further, "YES MY LORD! Your kingdom's new history will be written in these heathens blood!" A terrible cry came from the Bird King's mouth as he swooped down trying to catch Vivi in it's mouth. Even though it was made seemingly of light, the inside of it's mouth spilled dark black smoke. Vivi jumped out the way of it's maw, hiding behind the podium and the body of the cultist who had read the incantation.  
  
The other cultists were all to afraid to try and step in, most likely realizing how horrible a creature it was they had been worshiping. The leader raised the knife again, only to have Mystery once again attack him. This time biting down on his shoulder, the knife falling several feet away from the scuffle that had broken out. The Bird King gave up on Vivi, and turned it's attention to the cultists. Screeching and flying down at them now.  
  
The leader was horrified, in pain and confusion he yelled, "My liege no! Those are your disciples! Not them! The bound ones! The bound ones!!"  
  
The King ignored his cries and continued to chase the terrified cultists. Vivi, watched in terror from behind the podium, trying to figure out what to do.  
  
"It's not at full power yet... " she whispered. She glanced up at the book atop the podium, and stood to look at the pages. They were completely unreadable, the blood of the cultist had stained the text. Even if she could read the weird writing, it was to obscured now to even try.  
  
"What do I do! What do I do!" her eyes darted from the King, to Arthur and Mystery, to Lewis still hanging from the rope. There was no way he could hang on much longer, and the wound she had spied on Arthur before the King attacked her looked bad. She needed to do something. She was drawn out of her thought as the leader screamed in rage, he grabbed at Mystery and ripped him off his body throwing the little dog against the altar. She gasped in horror, Mystery didn't get back up.   
  
"MYSTERY! NO!" Arthur cried, but was cut short before he could say more as the leader kicked him harshly in the stomach. The leader then stalked towards the bloody knife.  
  
"I. Will. Not. Fail. My deed shall be done!" the leader said darkly, blood lust seemed to fall from his lips like air. Vivi's breath came in short, shuddering, bursts. Then her eyes fell on the brazier, with it's fire still burning strong.   
  
"Maybe. Maybe if I burn the book! Maybe I can dispel the spirit!!" she cried in revelation. Grabbing the book she ran, vaulting over the altar towards the brazier. It was her only good chance. If this didn't work then she didn't know what would, and she didn't want to think about the reality that would come if this thing got full power. The leader turned just as she threw the book into the flames, which once in contact with the book turned blacker than the smoke that spilled from the Bird King's mouth.  
  
" _NOT THE BOOK_!" was the sorrowful cry that fell from his lips, if he said anything further it wasn't heard. The Bird King was screeching and crying out in what may have been agony. The sound echoing and reverberating with a painfully loud sound. The light it was made of flickered and flashed, going from intensely bright to nearly completely extinguished. Vivi covered her eyes and looked away, hoping that it would be over soon. Arthur, on the other hand, couldn't help but watch in awe. Tears dry on his face, he watched the great spirit shake in torment. It was a glorious sight, one that most people will (hopefully) _never_ see. Then. The King locked it's horrendous eyes with Arthur's. And then. It spoke.  
  
" **If I am to be destroyed, then those who failed to give me my power. Shall too, _suffer_ in the darkness.** "

The cries of fear came from the cultists, all screaming no's and plea's of mercy. Even the leader was on his knees begging for forgiveness. With a flash of light and boom so loud that thunder would cower from it's noise, all went dark. Then the light of the moon shined back down into the cave. Vivi looked up, the cultists were all gone. The only ones left, were Arthur, Lewis, Mystery, the townsfolk and herself. It was over. They'd done it! She'd done it! She ran and picked up one of the abandoned knives, and cut first Arthur's bindings, and then to cut a few of the townsfolk free.  
  
"Get out of here!" she told them. When they asked what they were supposed to tell the police, she shrugged. She may have just took down the _"King of the Sky"_ but she was still a teenager, she didn't know what to tell them. As she headed back over to help Arthur up, she saw Mystery slowly making his way over to him as well.  
  
Arthur petted Mystery gently with his good arm, "Hey boy. I'm so glad you're okay. I thought I almost lost you. Don't worry, it's all over now." Mystery nudged up with a sad whine, happy that Arthur was safe. Vivi knelt down next to Arthur, throwing his arm over her shoulder.  
  
"Come on Artie, we need to get you to a doctor." she said softly.   
  
"Yea, probably a good idea."  
  
They stood up and were getting ready to follow the townsfolk out when.  
  
"UH! Guys?? What should I do?"  
  
"LEWIS! Oh crap! I forgot about you!"  
  
"Vivi..."  
  
Arthur chuckled, wincing in pain at the movement it caused, "Uh, just climb on out dude? We'll meet you outside!"  
  
"Oh. Good- Good idea! See you soon... I guess." he said, grunting and then starting to climb up again.  
  
Vivi smiled, then said, "You know what. I'm hungry. You wanna go get some chicken?"  
  
Arthur responded short and curtly, "Vivi if I see a chicken in the next hour or so, I'm going to scream."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, if y'all see any errors or such tell me and I'll correct them. This was way longer than I intended, but I had so much fun writing I had to go on!!


	5. Waking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Waking up into a nightmare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After the accident. Before the Mansion.

He didn't remember going to sleep. Especially not down here of all places.   
  
A dark cave. A very, very, dark cave. He was sitting on the ground, curled up next to one of the very large stalagmites that were numerous in this specific pit of the cave. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't completely terrified. These stalagmites were taller than he was, and he wasn't a short person, and there tips were so sharp looking.   
  
Where was he? Why was he here? Why was he asleep... Where were his friends? Did he get lost? Did they get lost? What happened!  
  
He needed to stand up, and go look for him. He couldn't be freaked out like this. It was always his job to keep a level head, he needed to go find them. To find Vivi, and Mystery and... Arthur? His head began to hurt as his thoughts turned to Arthur. He couldn't remember what had happened, he was so confused. For once in a long time, Lewis wanted to just sit there and cry. Maybe the others would come find him if he stayed there long enough. That's what his Mama and Papa had always told him, if you're lost and scared stay put and the people you love will come help you. But looking around at the towering stalagmites, all stained with something dark, he felt like he needed to move. Something was here, something bad, and he didn't want to be here any longer.   
  
On shaking legs, Lewis pulled himself up off the damp ground, using the stalagmite as a brace to help himself stand. He couldn't see any sort of exit anywhere nearby, no sign of a tunnel or anything. He took a deep breath and stepped forward, stumbling into the next nearest stalagmite. His next couple breaths came out shuddering, as he could no longer hold back any tears he had. He was so confused, and his head hurt more and more.   
  
"Vivi-" his call out for his friends stopped short as he heard his own voice. It sounded so. Different. It sounded hollow, and it seemed to almost echo. A different type of echo, not a cave echo. But, he didn't know how to explain it. He didn't want to talk again at all, he didn't want to hear it. But his need to find his friends overwhelmed his fear of the sound.   
  
"Vivi!! Arthur! M- Mystery?" he cried out, hoping for a response. But to his dismay, no such response came back. Did they leave him? He started walking forward again, trying to find the way out. Needing to find the way out. Needed light, and dryness, and cool, fresh air. Lewis chocked out a sob, it too sounded hollow. Why did his head hurt so bad? Maybe if he just went back to sleep, he'd wake up safe and sound in the van. A drop of moisture fell on his face, but he ignored it for now. It was probably just water, he was in a cave. Of course there would be water. He didn't even bother to wipe the water away, his face was already damp with his tears. He'd never been so scared before.  
  
"Vivi!! Arthur! Mystery!" he screamed this time. Along the walls. He saw eyes open. Hundreds of them, eyes glowing gold. All watching him. He backed up against the stalagmite he was next to, cringing at the wetness that was there. More water dripped on his face. He watched the eyes, hoping they wouldn't move. All was silent, except for the constant sound of dripping water.  
  
 _Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip._

He wanted it to stop. Each drip seemed to fall with the beat of his heart. It was driving him nuts. He just wanted to find his friends. He wanted to hold them and never let go again. He wanted to-  
  
He looked up. And screamed. 

Impaled upon the stalagmites was. _Him_.

It was a close cluster of stalagmites, one went through his chest. The other thew his neck and seemed to have taken the place of his lower jaw and. He was horrified.  
  
He stumbled away from the sight, tears blinding him as he tried to rip his eyes away from the blood mess. He slipped on a puddle of blood that had been forming, and fell backwards onto the ground. Lewis rolled over and pushed himself up, crawling and slipping further away from the gruesome scene. Slipping in the blood, he found himself leaned up against another stalagmite. Hand gripping his chest he ripped his eyes away, burying his head into his knees.  
  
"Guys!! Guys! If this is some sort of j-joke it's not funny! Stop it! Stop it! Please!" he cried out in desperation, "Vivi come out! Mystery?! Arthur!! ANYONE."  
  
He looked up and around again, hoping to god his friends would come out and apologize for whatever sick joke this was. That some kind soul would help him. He even hoped that somehow his Mama and Papa would come into his field of vision and hold him like they used to when he had bad dreams as a child. He wanted anyone, anything! To make it all _stop_.  
  
 ** _Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip._**

No one came. He was alone. And then all at once - he remembered.  
  
Shaking he remembered what had happened. Going into the cave. Going to the cliff. Standing near the edge to peer down into the depths of it. Turning to ask Arthur why he was quiet and then. He saw Arthur's face, have shaded in darkness, to reveal a cruel smile and gleeful look as his best friend pushed him. Pushed him over the edge. Reaching his arm out in shock trying to grab his friends hand. Hoping it was a game, a joke, a prank. But his friends face said it all, this was the end. And then.  
  
Lewis woke up here. He was dead. He looked over at the body, his body. He was dead. He'd never go home again. He'd never wake up in the van with his friends again. His Mama, his Papa, his family. They would never see him again, he'd never. He was alone now.  
  
"I'm alone..." he whispered in despair, then with a shuddering voice he cried out nearly incomprehensible, "Arthur!! Arthur why! I thought we were... fr-friends? ... Did you h-hate me??"  
  
He didn't know what to do now. He was dead. He. Was. A. _Ghost_. He was a _monster_. So he cried. It's all he could do.   
  
Lewis failed to notice the glowing eyes moving closer to him. The eyes were curious looking, wondering, and sad. Sad for this poor soul that had been left in the cold and gloom. The dripping sounds of Lewis' blood were drowned out by the heart-wrenching sobs he was making, he didn't even remember having cried this hard before. It made his head hurt, it made his heart hurt. All of him just _hurt_.

The golden eyed creatures were now up close to him, revealed to be purple ghosts with a golden heart that matched their golden eyes on what must have been their chest. They looked sadly at the boy in front of him. They all knew the feeling of waking up afraid and confused.   
  
One of them floated slowly in front of Lewis before speaking softly, " _Do not fear dear heart. Do not fear_." Lewis' head snapped upwards to look at the thing that had spoken to him. He wanted to scream again and run, but he just didn't have the energy anymore.  
  
"What - Who are you?" he asked trying to stop his sobs from arresting his speech. More of the little purple ghosts came closer to him, some resting upon his shoulders comfortingly, others pushing themselves into his hands and nuzzling them. All trying to calm the distraught boy, this poor forgotten ghost.   
  
The first ghost spoke again, " _We are the Dead Beats. We're all souls who were lost to this cave. But do not fear the afterlife dear heart. We will help you_." 

"My friend. He. He -"  
  
" _We know. We saw it all, we would have tried to save you. But we are to weak to do such a thing_."

The hearts upon the chests of the Dead Beats all turned a cool blue at the words, it was obvious all of them were incredibly sad that one so young would be lost to this cruel place. They snuggled closer to Lewis, who was now absentmindedly holding a few of them close to his chest. Finding comfort in the small spirits.   
  
"Where did... Vivi? And Mystery and.... **Arthur** go?" he said, a bitterness he didn't know he was capable of lacing his voice when he spoke his murderers name.  
  
" _They left dear heart_."   
  
"Oh..." Lewis whispered, "Do you think they'll come back?"  
  
" _Perhaps dear, perhaps. Till then, let us show you._ "  
  
"Show me? Show me what?"  
  
" _How to be **strong**_."  
  
Lewis stared at the Dead Beat in front of him, and was no longer afraid. The only thing he could feel was anger. That anger seemed to blaze and burn stronger when he thought of one person.   
  
"Show me."  
  
The Dead Beats left his side and formed a path to lead him. The Dead Beat who had spoken to him took a place by his side, ready to teach this young one how to be strong. How to take revenge for himself where they could not.   
  
As Lewis was led, he only had one thought.  
  
"Arthur. **Fuck**. It's you. I _hate_ the most."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, if y'all see any errors or such tell me and I'll correct them. I had no idea whether it's Ben or Mystery or both so. I'm seeing him called Ben more often in like, fanarts, but Mystery more often in *fanfiction*. I scoured Mystery Ben's Mystery Blog to finally found out that yes his official name is Mystery! I guess people got mixed up the longer it went on. All chapters have been fixed to call him by this name! Link to official name post for Mystery here: http://mysterybensmysteryblog.tumblr.com/post/74906519228/ghost-character-4-mystery-insert-goof-ball
> 
> Also don't question why Lewis is so corporeal in this, he's a pretty strong ghost in the video that is affected by the physical world so why not.


	6. A Phone Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone had to tell them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After the accident. Before the Mansion. Wasn't going to write this till tomorrow, but I couldn't help myself.

Of the three human members of Mystery Skulls, only one of them had a cell phone. Lewis' parents paid for a cell phone for them to use in emergencies, and for them to call every Sunday to check on him. It couldn't really do much more than that. It was a very useful thing to have, even though they would admit to have a few times broken that rule and used it to order pizza. Hunger was an emergency right? Lewis' parents said that until he could afford to buy his own, they would pay for this one. Considering the gang had only just graduated high school, and didn't have jobs with a guaranteed income. They were expecting to have this phone for a long time, and it was such a comfort to have.  
  
But right now, Vivi wanted nothing more for this phone to be gone. To be broken, or out of talk time to use for the month. Anything just so she wouldn't have to answer it. It was Sunday. The Sunday just after Lewis' death. Vivi was the only one who could answer it. Arthur was still out cold on medication, and Vivi didn't want to have the doctors tell Lewis' Mother and Father that he was dead. The events in the cave had happened on Thursday, the police had gone to where they said the cave was. And they had found no body. She dreaded telling that to his parents, telling them that their only son was dead and they would have no body for a funeral. Vivi knew she wouldn't be able to answer their questions, she could barely remember what happened in that cave. She'd woken up in the hospital, turns out some passers by found their van on the side of the road and had gone in the cave to see if they were okay. They were not okay.   
  
The doctors had told her Arthur had barely survived the blood loss, and that she had a very serious concussion. When she asked about Lewis, they could only say that her Arthur and Mystery were the only other living things in that cave besides her. What happened...  
  
She was in a bed across from Arthur's, once he was stable she asked if they could be in the same room. She didn't want to be alone, and even though they'd allowed Mystery to be in with them. She wanted someone she could talk to. Although, Arthur being asleep didn't really give her anything to talk to. It made her feel better. The nurse had just a few minutes ago come in to ask her for her and Arthur's home phone numbers. She'd given them to her and gone back to being in silence. Lewis' parents were like a second set of parents for her. Always so accepting and loving, being there for her when her parents weren't. Letting the whole gang crash in their tiny house without a single question, just knowing that their son cared about them and that was reason enough to allow it. She didn't want to break it to his Mom, her second better Mom, that her son was gone. Her own mother would never care if she just dropped dead, her own mother had been so happy when she'd left to travel around with Mystery Skulls. It was Lewis' Mom that had fussed over the gang, given them some food and gas money, the phone, maps, blankets. Cried when they all waved and hugged goodbye. Lewis' father who had talked to them about responsibility and being careful, a whole speech he must have planned out about how he wanted them to be extra careful while on their journey.   
  
The phone in her hands felt to heavy. Before it was a light reminder to the gang that someone out there cared about them. Now it felt like a dark object, that would only bring pain. This was Vivi's fault she thought, the journey and the Mystery Skulls had all been her idea. Look where that led them. Mystery whined at her, licking her hand in comfort. He tried to nudge the phone out of her hand, he must have known that it was the cause of her sadness at the moment. She gave him a sad smile and petted his head.  
  
"No Mystery... I. I have to tell them. They need to know, and they need to hear it from someone who knew Lewis." 

The doctor overseeing her and Arthur had offered to handle the phone call for her, but she'd refused. She needed to do this. For Lewis. 

It was almost 11 A.M. The call would be coming soon. Whenever Lewis got the call he'd usually put it on speaker phone so they could all talk to his parents. He used to love showing off his friends to his parents.   
  
Vivi sat in silence. Mystery snuggled up against her, to try and give her as much comfort as he could. She wished it was helping.

The phone rang. She froze. What used to be a comforting sound of Lewis' silly ring tone, _It's a Mystery!_ , was now terrifying. 

She stared at it. The caller ID read " _Mama & Papa<3"_. She couldn't do it. She couldn't do it.  
  
The phone call timed out.  
  
Vivi had no idea how to say what she needed to say. She should have called days ago. Instead of waited like a coward.   
  
The phone started ringing again. She looked to Arthur, still asleep, the door, no sign of anyone coming in. There was no one to do this for her. She had to.   
  
She answered.  
  
 _"Hi sweetie!"_ was the cheery greeting Lewis' Mom gave. Vivi was paralyzed, she didn't know how to start. _"Honey?"_ Lewis' mother continued and then his father cut in, _"Lew? You there bud?"_  

Vivi swallowed her fear, "Morning ma'am, sir."  
  
 _"Vivi! Did we wake you guys up? How late were you all out last night?"_ Vivi weighed her options. Drag out a pointless conversation or just break their hearts immediately. Glancing at Arthur's unconscious form she felt inclined to avoid the deathly topic awhile longer.  
  
"We weren't. Out all to late, we just slept in. Arthur's still asleep now." she said trying to force herself to laugh.  
  
 _"Something wrong kiddo?"_ Lewis' father said over the line, _"You sound upset about something."_

Lewis got his mother henning skills from somewhere, she clenched her eyes shut trying to keep tears at bay. Of course there would be no way to avoid it.   
  
"Something. Happened. I should have, should have called you guys immediately. I'm so sorry ma'am, sir. I'm so sorry, but I - I was so afraid and I.. I." she chocked out each word trying to keep control over her emotions. It wasn't working.  
  
 _"Vivi are you alright? The boys? Don't be afraid of us honey, and remember we told you you could call us Mom and Dad. You don't need to be so formal. What's wrong honey?"_ Lewis' mothers' voice was a comfort to hear, but at being told to call her Mom, Vivi let out a choked sob. To kind, to kind for what news Vivi had for them.  
  
"No. No, nothing. Nothing is alright! We, went into a cave. I'm so sorry, it was my idea. And. We don't know what happened! Arthur! Arthur, hasn't even woken up yet. I -" her voice broke down into crying, she covered her mouth with her hand to try and quiet the pathetic sounds she was making. She couldn't even get to the part about Lewis. These people loved their son, it would break them. Vivi was literally condemning them, they would have to tell all the rest of Lewis' family. Aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents. He'd been the youngest, and he was the first to die. This wasn't fair.  
  
 _"Oh god. What happened? Vivi, is Lewis okay??"_ Lewis' mother asked, his father had gone silent.   
  
"No. No he isn't."  
  
Silence. The sound of the phone passing, most like Lewis' Dad taking the phone from his Mom. The voice that came over the line was rough, as if the man was afraid to speak, afraid of the answer to his question, _"Vivi. Is Lewis. Alive?"  
  
_ "No."  
  
Vivi cringed as the anguished cry from Lewis' mother came over the line. This was her fault. Her fault. Oh Arthur, why aren't you awake. She needed comforting words right now.   
  
 _"When?"_

"Thursday..."  
  
 _"Oh God why -"_ the voice faded away. She wouldn't blame them if they hated her, she waited for the phone line to go dead. Or for Lewis' father to scream at her, scream how this was her fault. But then, _"Honey, where are you and Arthur? We're going to come okay? Just tell us where you_ are."  
  
It was then Vivi realized, she didn't remember. It'd been two days and it never occurred to her to ask where she was. "I don't... know..." the whispered words were barely loud enough for Lewis' father to here. The doctor walked in, saw her on the phone and was about to walk back out when, "No wait! Please. Help! Where are we?" The doctor didn't look surprised at the question, and stepped forward and held her hand out, obviously wanting the phone. Vivi handed it to them without hesitation.   
  
"Hello?"  
  
 _"Who is this?"_  
  
"This is the doctor seeing over Vivi and Arthur. I can answer any questions you have."

 _"What hospital? Where? We need to see our kids?!"_  
  
Kids. Plural. Vivi couldn't help but feel ashamed, she didn't deserve to be loved by them. Leaning down she buried her head in Mystery's side, trying to block the world out.

"Sir, please. Calm down. We've already contacted Vivi and Arthur's parents, I assume you are the father of Lewis?"  
  
 _"Yes! Tell me it isn't true, tell me he's okay!"_  
  
"Sir, I think it's wise you and your wife come to the hospital as soon as you can. We have a lot to talk about, " the doctor covered the phone mouth piece then looked down at Vivi, and placed a hand on her shoulder causing her to look at them, "I'm going to step into my office, is that alright? If you need anything call for the nurse and they'll come get me okay?" Vivi nodded in quiet agreement.   
  
She was left in silence once again when the doctor left the room. Taking that dreaded cell phone with her. She looked over at Arthur, still asleep. Still oblivious to what happened in that cave. At least, for Arthur. She wouldn't need to use a phone call to tell him such horrible news. Mystery gave a sad whine, and licked her face. She petted him softly, leaning back against the hospital bed again. This was a nightmare.   
  
"Oh Lewis. I miss you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, if y'all see any errors or such tell me and I'll correct them. <3 More soon-ish. Any prompts welcome. O-ho-ho-ho. Wonder why they couldn't find Lewis' body while he could see it just fine? ; - ) Also. I don't know how hospitals work.


	7. Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur may not be brave, but he saves his friends in ways he doesn't realize.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before the accident. Three chapters, one day. Love me. Love me the way I love Arthur. Also, I have never seen Die Hard forgive me.

It was Arthur's birthday. He, Vivi, Lewis and Mystery all spent the whole day together.   
  
First, they started at Arthur's house. Ate cake, opened presents, and in general goofed off for a bit. They went to the arcade and played games for awhile, then went to the theater to watch a movie. It was Arthur's pick for the movie. Not some gruesome horror movie like Vivi would pick, and not a musical like Lewis would pick. He picked Die Hard. He was excited the whole time, even though he's seen it before. He was just happy the theater was playing it again. He loved the part where the bad guy, Gruber, falls to his death. Arthur, even though he usually didn't like that sort of thing in movies, thought it was totally befitting for the villain. He and other die hard Die Hard fans were cheering as he fell.  
  
Vivi looked amused by his excitement, and Lewis. Lewis looked uncomfortable, but Arthur just chalked it up to fact that maybe he wasn't expecting Gruber to fall. Arthur gushed about how great the movie was, while Lewis trailed behind them quietly. Lewis was just quiet, that's all. He'd always been a sort of quiet guy, and it was late. Probably just tired. Nothing could ruin Arthur's good mood right now. Nothing!

They dropped Vivi off at her house reluctantly, her mom refused to let her stay with two boys for the night. Arthur drove them back to his place in relative silence, talking a bit here and there. Silence anything but awkward, it was a silence shared between friends one of understanding and companionship. Lewis and Arthur could sit in silence for hours and it never get awkward, they were just that close. A big smile was plastered across Arthur's face, and the small smile that usually painted Lewis' face was still there. Everything was good. Arthur hadn't had such a great birthday in a long time. They would have done the same thing last year, but stuff happened.  
  
The boys whispered to each other quietly as Arthur let them into his house. They quickly grabbed another slice of pizza and rushed upstairs to Arthur's room. It was a messy room, but he always cleaned up a little when one of his friends was coming over. Both boys were tired, it was nearly one in the morning. It was a silent agreement between the two to get changed into pj's and head to bed. Arthur's pajamas were a pair of unused gym shorts, and a horribly stained t-shirt. Mostly stained with oil and grease though, it was his old work shirt. Lewis on the other hand, wore dark purple sweats and a long sleeved black shirt, always a bit of a fashionista even when going to sleep. Arthur flopped down on his bed, and Lewis laid down quietly on the sleeping bag that Arthur had gotten out for him.   
  
Lewis looked up at Arthur who was, in turn, looking down at him from his bed. "Did you have a good day buddy?" he asked.  
  
Even if Arthur hadn't said anything, the large grin on his face said it all, "Heck yea, man you guys are the best. Thanks for the gift you got me by the way. Really cool."  
  
Lewis looked bashful. He'd been worried that Arthur wouldn't like his present. It had been figurine of Miku Hatsune. Lewis didn't understand the Vocaloid thing at all, but Arthur liked them so why not. "I'm glad. You deserve to have a good birthday."   
  
Arthur laughed quietly, his friend was sweeter than sugar sometimes. He handed Lewis one of his pillows and blankets and covered himself up with one. "Night Lew."  
  
"Night Arthur."

* * *

 It was around two in the morning that Arthur woke up to a very sad sound. He thought it was just Mystery whining at his door at first, but after a moment he realized the sound wasn't coming from the door. But from the floor. Leaning over the edge, he looked at his friend. Lewis was curled up on there side, facing away from the bed. Shaking.  
  
"... Lewis?"   
  
No response. But his friend kept making sad sounds. Climbing down off his bed and kneeling next to him he leaned over Lewis' side and looked at his face. Lewis was crying, and still fast asleep. Now very concerned, Arthur started shaking his friend, trying to get him awake.  
  
"Hey, hey. Lewis, come on pal wake up."  
  
Lewis blinked awake, and slowly sat. Seemingly unaware of the tears rolling down his face.  
  
"Arthur?" he whispered, confused as to why his friend was up.  
  
"You were having a nightmare Lew. You okay?" 

Lewis didn't respond immediately, and sat still on the floor. Nearly silent except for the sound of their collective breathing.   
  
"Yea. I'm fine, sorry. Did I wake you up?" he said hoping to derail Arthur off the topic of his dream land disturbance.

Arthur frowned, he wasn't going to be thrown off by Lewis. He knew him to well, Lewis hated people worrying about him. He was always trying to get people off topic, or change the subject when it came to him. Arthur wasn't to be deterred though, this was his house. And he was temporarily older than Lewis so it was his job to make sure his friend was okay.  
  
"I was going to wake up eventually, don't worry. Now what's wrong?" he said sitting down and scooting closer to Lewis.   
  
"It was just a dream, it's nothing," Lewis tried, but the look on Arthur's face told him that that wasn't going to cut it, "I mean! I'm awake now so it's no big deal anymore right?" It wasn't working and Lewis knew it, Arthur was persistent. He looked away and started using his sleeve to dry his face. "It's fine Art. I don't want to ruin your birthday with my silly dream."  
  
Arthur sighed, "My birthday was yesterday. It's today now. Don't worry. Even if it was my birthday, I'd rather you tell me what's wrong then you sit here upset and not let me do anything to help you feel better." Arthur reached out and rubbed Lewis' shoulder. His friend was a big softie, always too kind. Lewis turned back to look at him, giving him that soft little smile that he gave everyone. The one that said secretly, no don't worry about me! It was always Lewis' eyes that said the most, and right now they said, thank you.  
  
"It was just. I don't like heights," he started darting his eyes to the floor again to look away from Arthur again, "And I was just dreaming that I was. Um. Falling, and well."  
  
Arthur's mouth slowly opened agape in realization. The stupid movie he had picked for them to go watch. Gruber's death. He had caused Lewis' nightmare indirectly.  "Oh god, Lewis I'm so sorry. I didn't know, I would never had made us go see that movie if I knew. I'm sorry!" He felt horrible now, he didn't even think about asking if there was anything that his friends would be uncomfortable to see in a movie. He'd figured that because of the number of horror films they'd watched with Vivi everything was fine.  
  
Lewis shook his head quickly, "No, no! It's not your fault! Movies never upset me like this, even if you had known it shouldn't have been a problem. I don't know what's wrong with me right now. But, thank you for waking me up... You did it, just before in the dream. Just before I hit the ground, in a way. You sort of saved me." His purple haired friend gave a nervous chuckle, as if the coincidental timing of his early morning wake up call had made everything better. Lewis glanced at the clock to and continued, "Maybe we should go back to sleep, we're going to be exhausted tomorrow if we don't..."  
  
Arthur nodded, he really didn't know what to do now. He didn't really want to let Lewis go back to sleep on the off chance he had another nightmare. But he really was tired, and really did want to go to bed again. Then, he had an idea, "Hey Lew? You wanna just sleep up on the bed with me? I mean, that way if you have another nightmare, I'll be um, right there?" He didn't expect for a second Lewis was going to even respond to that statement. Arthur felt stupid for even having suggested it, like Lewis would want to be that close to him all night. Well morning.  
  
"... Would you really be okay with that?" Lewis asked shyly.  
  
"Huh!? Oh, yea man of course! I don't want you to be all afraid through the night. That feeling is the worse." Boy would Arthur know, the number of times he'd had sleepless nights because of some whacked up horror story or another was horrible. He was surprised, Lewis wasn't fearless of course but he'd never expect something like heights and falling to bother him so much. He wondered if there was a reason behind it... A question for another time.   
  
"Well. If you really don't mind, okay." Arthur grinned and grabbed Lewis' pillow throwing it back on top of his bed. Lewis was obviously waiting for Arthur to crawl into the bed before he joined him, but Arthur had a better idea.  
  
"You lay closest to the wall, that way you won't have to worry about falling out of the bed!" he said gesturing for his friend to get into the bed. The look of gratitude Lewis had on his face was words enough for Arthur. The purple headed boy quickly crawled into bed, dragging the blanket he'd been lent with him. Arthur was right behind him, and they were quick to get comfortable. It didn't take long for both to close there eyes and get ready to sleep again.  
  
But one last time Lewis' voice broke the room's silence, "Thank you Art."  
  
"No problem Lew."

* * *

The next morning Arthur's uncle walked into the room to wake the boy's up for breakfast. Coffee cup in hand he opened the door, "Hey boy's come on -" The sight was precious. Both boys fast asleep in the bed, arms wrapped around each other like both were trying to protect the other from something unseen. If Arthur's uncle didn't know what sort of antics his son could get mixed up in he would have described them as little angels. With a smile on his face, he closed the door quietly and went back downstairs to let the boy's have a couple more minutes of sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, if y'all see any errors or such tell me and I'll correct them. <3 More soon-ish. Any prompts welcome. The Miku thing was in tribute to my favorite Arthur roleplayer on tumblr, because their Arthur is a total weeb for Miku.
> 
> Also soon going to be writing a short fic, separate from this one for a lil' cute bean from tumblr.


	8. The Xander Witches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang goes to investigate a mysterious case, and ends up faced off against some powerful witches.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After the Mansion. Lewis has rejoined group at this time. Based off an idea I had last night when stalking cyborgdorito's tumblr. # MAJOR GORE

A few days previously Vivi had received a message on the Mystery Skulls official web page. Normally she wouldn't have thought so much of it, considering the web page received messages about cases all the time. It was just the case that was described to her in this message that perked her curiosity the most. It seemed to be written, not from a citizen who had been getting worried about some strange events happening locally, but by the people causing the events happening locally themselves. Arthur had said immediately that it probably a bait message to trick them into investigating. Lewis had agreed, noting that the over the top language used in the message was a bit to fictional for it be written from experience of an actual event. What neither of them could agree on was whether or not the message was baiting them into something dangerous. In the end it didn't matter, Vivi was completely engrossed in the message, and had decided that they would go if only to figure out what the intent was. She had promised that they would high tail it out of there if it turned into something too dangerous.   
  
Later she amended that promise to say, they would high tail it out of there and then come up with a better plan.  
  
Last minute of course she amended that amendment to be, it's to late to turn back now we might as well get to the bottom of this sooner rather than later.

This amendment of the amended promise in turn, is what caused this whole mess to get completely out of hand. They had gone to the city of Xander, and quickly found out that the person who sent the message didn't even exist. Well, technically didn't exist. They would have had to have been over 300 years old for them to have sent it. 70 years old people couldn't even use computers, how would a 300 something year old person manage to do it? From there on out, they had relied on Mystery and Lewis. Mystery for his amazing snooping skills, and Lewis because doors don't apply to him. No one in town could confirm the reports made in the message, but it didn't take long for Mystery to pick up on something. The little dog had just taken off running, forcing the rest of them to follow after him in a haste. Mystery had led them to an old house on the outskirts of town, he'd growled and barked at the door of the house for ages before Lewis decided to phase through the walls and investigate. Ghosts couldn't get charged with breaking and entering so technically it wasn't illegal. While the house itself was empty, Lewis found a hidden passage beneath it that led to a large sprawling tunnel system that was too precise to be naturally. When they went down into the passage and found the first split in the path, Vivi promised they wouldn't split up.  
  
After taking the one path for awhile and running into another split, she amended that promise to, as long as we all stuck two and two.  
  
Soon after that it didn't matter what amendment she tried to make, as the walls of the passage themselves worked against them. Splitting Arthur and Vivi up, and then Mystery and Lewis. In a hurry to rejoin Mystery, Lewis tried to phase through the wall like normal, but was shocked to discover he was unable to. He stood there for a few minutes, trying and trying to get back through, but with no success. Eventually he was forced to continue on down the passage. They all were. The passages had stopped forking, and all seemed to lead one way now. Something was leading them further down into the catacomb, and that something was most likely whoever sent the message telling them about Xander in the first place. There was something darker in the rocks of the walls than they had ever imagined. Individually they went onward down into the strange place they had found themselves in. One by one though, they seemed to find the end.  
  
Vivi was first to enter the anti-chamber. Drawn in by the comforting glowing lights that glittered about the inner chamber. All of them in the exact center, all seeming to beckon her closer and closer. Vivi walked towards them, eyes never leaving the light, and in a flash she was out.  
  
Mystery was next. He was not wanted. The residents of the secret hall knew what he was, simply by feeling the aura he gave off. They truly wondered how stupid Mystery's companions were to not realize his true identity. They trapped him in the passages, in a small room with no exits. If he was smart he wouldn't try to escape.  
  
Lewis was the next one to fall into their trap. Quite literally. They thought it would be funny to drop him down into the anti-chamber from above. They only bothered to catch him just as he was in the right position for their ritual. As something purely comprised of spirit energy, he would be the easiest to take.   
  
They. Of course. Were the ones who sent the message, the ones who led them to the house, who made it possible for Lewis to find the secret passage. They were the Xander Witches, an ancient group of witches who had been living and feeding off the souls of others for centuries. They were smart, smarter than the witches of Salem ever were. The Xander Witches had never been caught, never were even suspected. This is why they still existed. They were a picky bunch though, wouldn't just take any which soul came their way, it had to be special. When the eldest of the Xander Witch family heard of these strange children who went around calling themselves the Mystery Skulls came to to her ears. It was decided, they would be next. Of the Witches, there were four. Four whose names had been lost to time, names were unimportant. Names were for mortals. And the Xander Witches, were anything but.   
  
They stepped out of the darkness, arms raised magic sparking from their fingertips to keep Lewis immobile in the air. It was time.  
  
"First is first, and first is last. This one here, while imperfect shall make a delectable treat!" the first said, with red hair that tumbled down her back like snakes.   
  
"It'll be nice to warm up to something so easy... Like a before dinner snack," the next whispered, with no hair at all to be see upon their head.  
  
"I can feel the emotion from this one so easy, when was it last we had such a treat?" the third laughed with mirth, black hair cut short to their head.  
  
The third and the eldest, with hair brown as the soil of the earth finally spoke, "Speak no more sisters, and wield your magic. The time has come to turn this petty ghost, into an even pettier meal."  
  
Lewis couldn't speak, he couldn't even light a fire. He felt something invisible containing any power he had. These witches, were strong. He couldn't do anything. He tried flailing around to break free of the invisible holds their magic had on him. He needed too do something! Nothing worked. His eyes fell on Vivi, unconscious on the ground just behind the witch with red hair. He felt anger flair up in him, Lewis tried to harness it and use it against the witches, but no fire came no power. They laughed at him.  
  
"He thinks his meager power can break our binds," the eldest laughed, "Let us give this pathetic specter a taste of what real power is!"

 The glowing lights started circling Lewis, in a tight formation, and even though nothing was touching him. He felt a pain so overwhelming he couldn't help but cry out. The four witches laughed at him, relishing in his anguish. The lights moved closer and closer to Lewis, leaving less room for him to try and break free from the binds the witches had left him in. While all this happened, in the shadows out of sight was the last member of the Mystery Skulls. Arthur. Paralyzed with fear he had been hiding just where the mouth of his passage had opened up to the anti-chamber. He'd seen Lewis fall, again. He couldn't move, couldn't do anything. What _could_ he do? He wasn't smart like Vivi, wasn't strong like Lewis, he didn't have any trait or talent that could save his friends. He would watch _again_ as his dead friend died _again_.   
  
Lewis' spectral form started to flicker in and out, going from visible to simply gone in seconds. The lights grew closer still, and with one last anguished cry he was gone. The glowing lights moved away again and all that was left behind was a small purple light. Arthur couldn't take his eyes off the light as it descended downwards to the ground. The witches lowered the hands. _And laughed._ Arthur was terrified, Lewis was gone again! What could he do what -  
  
 **"You're pathetic."**  
  
He twisted around trying to find the source of the voice, but there was no one. The witches were still preoccupied, Vivi was still out cold and Mystery was MIA. "Who... said that?" He whispered.  
  
 **"I did."** The voice came from behind him, Arthur turned in a flash and came face to face with himself. A much different version of himself though. Hair messy and unkempt, eyes wild and green, skin the same ghoulish green color. He was still as a statue as he looked at this eviler version of himself. The version of himself who had killed Lewis, the version of himself that was every dark emotion Arthur had in him.  
  
"What. What do you want."  
  
 **"To mock you of course,"** it said throwing it's arm around Arthur's shoulder and forcing him to look back at the seen, **"Aren't you sad that you failed your friends again? Come on you've always been so useless."  
**

"Use...less."  
  
 **"Yea. Useless. I mean how many times have they had to save you? All you've managed to do was the opposite of saving."**

The alternate version of Arthur pinched his normal-self cheeks and watched the witches continue their ritual. They were now using their magic to slowly ascend Vivi upwards, it was her turn. Soon he'd be alone. Alone with the knowledge that he couldn't save his friends. The green creature next to him seemed to be getting closer to him, and Arthur felt himself losing control.   
  
 **"Thanks for being such an easy vessel bub. I'll let the witches do the hard work, and then we'll devour those pathetic souls together. How's that sound?"**

Something inside Arthur snapped, just as the demon in his eye fully possessed what was left of his body. The fear in his heart turned to anger, the sadness into drive. He wouldn't allow this, he wouldn't. There was no way he was allowing those witches or this demon to hurt his friends. Not not, not ever, not _again_. He stood and started stalking towards the witches. And the demon sounded off in his mind yelling obscenities and curses, heard only by him. Even though this green beast had possessed his body again, this time Arthur had control over his mind.  All it had given him was the strength he needed to save his friends. His family.  
  
 **"How are you doing this?!? Stop it! Give me my body! I stole it fair and square."**  
  
"You can have it when I'm dead."  
  
The four witches turned to look at him, having heard his voice. It was the first time in a long time they had been shocked. This fourth one, with skin greener than mold, had come from no where. Furthermore, the dark, oppressive power that seemed to come off the creature in waves was a tell tale sign that the witches had finally met an opponent worth their fury.   
  
They were only half right.   
  
Their magic was cut off in a split second. Vivi fell to the ground. Arthur would have gone to check to see if she was okay, but right now. He was to busy. The raw strength the green demon had given him was to great an opportunity to pass up on. He had so much anger to let out, and who better to let it out on then four disgusting, old, crones who had probably taken the lives away from so many in the past. Arthur had never felt so much anger before, and he could do something about it. He grabbed the nearest witch by her long red hair and pulled her to the ground. He didn't know what he was doing, he just did it. With strength beyond any human, he started slamming his foot down onto the witches head. The other three witches were shocked, but quickly tried to save their sister. The first, with no hair at all came bearing a knife. Arthur grabbed her arm and twisted it till it broke like it was nothing more than a twig. The second with black hair cut short came with fire in her hands. Arthur used the arm of the first witch and  the knife she had tried to use on him against her sister. He drove the knife deep into the black haired witches eye. She screamed. By now the red haired witch was nothing more then a memory, and he turned his attention to work on the second witch more. He grabbed her head and drove his thumbs into her eyes, she scratched at his arms trying to set herself free. It was no use.  
  
The eldest witch, with her hair as brown as the earthly soil, tried firing a spell of lightning. Arthur pushed the other two witches in front of the blast.   
  
 **"I'm liking this new you Artie-ol'-boy. Maybe we should stay like this. See that last witchie there, let's have some fun with her."**

Arthur stopped, "I'm not a murderer."  
  
 **"Oh Artie.... Of course you are."**

"Of course I am..." The last witch. Frozen in place as a green mist had taken hold over her. Arthur reached down, pulled the knife out of the eye of the black haired witch, driving it quickly into her heart to finish her off, ignoring her pleas of mercy. He walked slowly towards the last witch. The green mist had wrapped around her neck and pulled it back, giving him the right angle to slit her neck and get this all over with. But first there was business he had to attend too. Once in front of her, Arthur grabbed her face with a painful grip and forced her to look him in the eyes. In his green, green eyes.  
  
"Fix him."  
  
"Fix? Fix who?? I don't know who you're talking about!" she said trying to smile at him like nothing had been happening, like he wasn't drenched in the blood of the sisters she'd spent centuries with.  
  
"LEWIS. THE GHOST? FIX. HIM."  
  
"Oh! Oh, oh, oh, oh! Him?? Why would you want him? He's just a ghost! He's nothing, don't you want something better? I could make you rich!" the unwavering look in Arthur's eyes drove her to speak further, "Do you want love? That girl there, do you want her love? I can make her love you! Why would you want a lingering ghost in the way?" She reached her one free hand up and placed it gently on his face, "I can see much sorrow in your e-eyes. It must be because of that Luke boy. Let me take care of him. I'll give you whatever you want."  
  
"His name. Is Lewis. And you'll put him back. _Now."  
_

Her smile fell and she redirected her arm at the small, purple light that still rested on the ground. "One day, you'll regret this decision, you'll wish you'd taken my offer." She cast her magic and slowly the purple light began to retake the form of Lewis. Arthur watched entranced, waiting. Soon it was complete, and Lewis' skeleton form was clear. Then the skull and fiery hair faded into his humanoid ghost form, and the ghostly boy looked around confused almost unseeing of what was happening. "You're lucky," she said with boredom on her voice, "Had we started with the girl, there would have been nothing to do to fix it."  
  
"Yea. I'm lucky, but you aren't." Without hesitation Arthur slit the throat of the final witch. She didn't make a sound, even as the mist dropped her to the floor. Arthur looked down at his hands, while they were covered in blood they were no longer green. Had he just imagine the demon being there? He now felt the weight of what he had just done. He'd murdered four people. Dropping the knife in disgust he looked at his hands. One robotic and cold, and the other still alive and very much aware of the sticky blood that coated it. He heard barking, Mystery had managed to make it to the anti-chamber. With the death of the witches, their magic had no control over this place.  
  
He turned to look at where Mystery was, he was licking Vivi's hands as she slowly sat up. A dark bruise was forming on her head, most likely from the fall she took when the witches magic failed, dropping her to the ground. Lewis was in a daze, he had no idea why he was human appearing at the time. Actually no one knew, but no one cared. What they did care about, was what had just happened. Vivi, Lewis and Mystery's eyes fell upon Arthur. Arthur was a bloody mess. He stared back at them, and then he slowly started walking over to them hands held out in front of him. Horror was written across his face as plain as day.   
  
Not a word was spoken when Arthur dropped down on his knees in front of them and pulled Vivi and Lewis into a bloody hug. Not a word was said as he started crying as he came to realize what he'd done. Mystery made not a sound as he looked around the anti-chamber in search of a familiar presence he hadn't sensed since he was last in a cave with a green mist not unlike the mist that was lingering here.

Arthur said nothing even as in the back of his head he heard foul whispering, whispering that said, **"Let's do it some more."**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, if y'all see any errors or such tell me and I'll correct them. <3 More soon-ish. Any prompts welcome.
> 
> Releasing the names of the coming chapters as a sort of, "guess what's coming" sort of thing. Hehe. After this comes "Prom Night", then "Day's Off" and then, "Kingdom Come". Soon. I hope this chapter is okay, I'm sure how to feel about it.


	9. Prom Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang heads to the senior prom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before the Accident.

They had ever planned to attend any of the school dances, much less their senior prom. It was just something that was unappealing to them. Except for Lewis. Lewis had always tried to talk them into going to the school dances, Winter Formal, Homecoming, Valentine's, the Halloween Dance. Yet, Vivi and Arthur consistently said that if he wanted to go he should, because they weren't. Consistently, Lewis would stay home too, either hanging out with them or just not going anywhere at all. They never talked about why he wouldn't go, it was to obvious. To Lewis, even if he knew he would have fun at the dance, it wouldn't be worth going without the people that mattered most to him.  
  
Senior year was no different.

"Homecoming?"

"No."

"Halloween, come on Vivi you love Halloween!"  
  
"We'd rather be out."  
  
"Winter Formal...?"  
  
"Not even if Hell froze over."  
  
"Valentine's?"   
  
"No way."  
  
Come the end of the year, Lewis had given up asking. They hadn't once said yes to going to a dance, not a single dance since the start of Freshman year. He assumed the answer to senior prom would be no different. When the prom theme had been announced, Night in the Garden, he didn't ask. When the venue was set, a classy rose garden, he didn't even mention it. A month before, not a word. The week before, he carried on without even looking at posters giving out the events details. As always, if Vivi and Arthur weren't going he wasn't either. The two friends in question of course, hadn't been blind to how he had been acting. The past four years he would ask for weeks trying to get them to go to a dance, they noticed his sudden lack of caring about this one was apparent. It was one day though, just two weeks before the prom, that made them change their minds about school dances. While walking to class they saw Lewis at his locker. Staring at one of the prom posters the committee had posted all over. With a sigh he had ripped it down, crumpled it up, and threw it away. Vivi and Arthur shared a quick look and immediately started forming a plan.  
  
They all went on as normal, ignoring Lewis' behavior, not mentioning or even talking about prom. Pretending it merely didn't exist. Until the night of said dance. Without announcing themselves, Vivi and Arthur drove to Lewis' house. It was a big surprise to Lewis when he opened the door, and there were Vivi and Arthur all dressed up. Vivi in a full length blue prom dress, Arthur in a full on tuxedo complete with orange die and pocket cloth.  
  
Together in unison they asked, "Will you go to prom with us?"  
  
The way Lewis' face went from confusion to pure joy was priceless, "Let me get dressed!"  
  
They knew Lewis already had a tux, he had it for a wedding he went to the year before. They smiled right back at him as he came backstairs dressed up in his snazzy tux, purple tie and pocket cloth. His parents come into the hall to see what was happening. Lewis' mother looked like she was going to cry.  
  
"Oh look at you three! Precious little darlings, let me take a picture of you all!" she had said rushing to get her camera.   
  
His father had slapped Arthur on the back proudly and exclaimed, "Look at you Artie! Clean up pretty good kid, not a spec of oil on you!"

"Thanks Sir," Arthur said just as Lewis' mother came back into the room. The woman literally had tears in her eyes.  
  
"Oh you are all so precious. Come on gather around. Vivi you in front, goodness you're so beautiful. Arthur, right next to Lewis! Alright, now smile kids!" With a bright flash she took several pictures. Telling the kids to move here and there, tilt there heads different. Eventually she was satisfied and looked down at the camera to examine the photos. She waved her husband over to look at one in particular. The gang had all glanced at each other just as she took the photo, all with the most sincere smiles on their faces. "Oh honey look at them." she said with pride in her voice.  
  
He smiled at the photo too, "You kids are just too cute. Look at you all, almost all grown up but still as cute as buttons."   
  
Then his mother started shewing them out the door, "Go on kids, go have fun!"  
  
Lewis gave her a quick hug and off they went.

* * *

 At the dance itself, it was needless to say that some of their class was surprised to see them there. Considering they hadn't bothered to go to any of the other dances before this. Vivi had both boys in her arms and they walked into the garden venue still beaming. 

  
"So what made you guys change your mind about dances?" Lewis finally asked.   
  
Vivi answered, "I dunno, we just thought it sounded fun."  
  
"Especially if we're all here together," Arthur chimed in just as the next song came on. They all grabbed hands and did there best to dance as a trio. More than once they stumbled over each other, especially during the faster songs, nearly knocking one another over. During the slow songs though, they all came close and threw their arms over one another and talked quietly in hushed voices as they slowly stepped in circles. It wasn't thrilling, it wasn't a heart-pounding adventure, but Lewis had been right. It was fun. When they got tired of dancing alone, they joined the rest of the seniors when songs came on that had dances everyone knew. Thriller came on several times, and they all joined in. Nearly the whole class singing louder than the music was playing.   
  
When their feet started hurting they sat around the tables drinking the virgin margaritas that had been provided and cracked bad puns about flowers left and right. After that they made a game out of trying to get the finger foods to land into each others mouth, more than once though the food went down Arthur's shirt of all places rather than in his mouth. Which of course quickly prompted Vivi to have an excuse to reach down his shirt in hunt for the food.

Which prompted Lewis to cry out in mock horror, "Vivi stop touching Arthur's boobs!!" The dance went by faster than they ever thought, and before long the song for the last dance came on. 

_"Oh my love, my darling . ."_

They all smiled at each other as they looked across each other at the table. "Do we wanna do one more dance?" Vivi asked, her and Arthur both looking to Lewis. They came for him, it was his choice.  
  
His face scrunched up in thought, lips pursed and eyes drifted upward. It was Lewis' thinking face, most of the time he wasn't even aware he did it. 

_"And time goes by so slowly. ."_

After a moment he finally responded, "You know, I think I'm good on dancing. I know what we should do though." He paused just long enough to build up some drama and then, "Let's go to Denny's."  
  
"Lewis it's almost midnight!"  
  
"No, no, Vivi. I like where he's going with this idea!"  
  
"Arthur!"  
  
After convincing Vivi they hurried out of the garden, already talking excitedly about what they were going to get.   
  
 _"Are you still mine? .  .  . I need your love. ."_

* * *

 It hadn't been that long ago. Vivi looked at the photo in her hands, she hadn't even realized she had packed it with her when they left on their journey to help ghosts. Their prom photo, Lewis' mom had given them each a copy of it. 

  
They were heading home for now. Arthur was recovered, and it was time. Time for the funeral. She shook her head, it wasn't going to be really much of a funeral though. They didn't even have the body, his body. They didn't have Lewis. Stuffing the photo back into the box she'd found it in she sighed.  
  
"We should have gone to more dances... Huh Lew?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, if y'all see any errors or such tell me and I'll correct them. Have a good day on Thursday everyone, I'll be updating again on Friday. Speaking of, if you're going Black Friday shopping be safe. And be nice to store workers! <3


	10. Days Off

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With no cases to occupy their time, the gang finds some time to just have fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before the accident

In the lull between cases, the gang often had two choices when it came to occupying their time. Either staying in a cheap hotel for awhile eating cheaper food and watching the _cheapest_ movies, or actually going outside and experiencing the world. The last time they'd gotten a break from cases, they'd spent the whole day inside due to rain, and this time they were determined to go out and have fun. They'd driven around for a long time trying to find something to do. Nothing felt appealing to them though, until that is, while driving to the next town over they had found a little trail leading off to the woods. It was marked, and had a proper path, so it was definitely not some demonic trail leading to some ghostly spook house.

Gathering up in their cooler a combination of foods, they set off down the trail. While not the exciting adventure they usually go on, the slower pace was a pleasant change. It was only matched in pleasantry by the warm, sun-shiny day that they had been blessed with. The woods weren't tightly packed, but after only a few minutes they couldn't see the van between the trees. They walked together in a comfortable silence, side by side, Lewis in the middle with Vivi and Arthur to his left and right respectively. Mystery led them down the trail, only running a few feet away now and then when a squirrel appeared. Birds twittered and the ever constant sound of nature filled their ears. After a few more minutes of walking, they heard the familiar sounds of water. They thought nothing of it, simply enjoying the sights and sounds. It really was a much different experience then what they usually did. Crawling through the dark, chasing after one ghost or something like that. The day was as relaxing as relaxing can be. 

Soon they found the source of the water, a large pond. Or lake, it was big but not big enough to be a lake but not small enough to be a pond. The ground rose and a small hill bordered the far side of the lake. On top of the hill was a large tree, that had a rope hanging from one of the branches, most likely for diving into the pond-lake. The best part though, was that they had it all to themselves.  Without a question, they stashed their food basket next to a tree, leaving Mystery to guard it and ran back to the van for their swim suits. Each taking a turn to change in private within the van. First Vivi, who bounded out proudly in her backless, blue, one piece, swimsuit. Next was Arthur, in his slightly, over-sized, orange swim trunks with the draw strings tied tightly to keep them on. Lastly was Lewis, who while in his purple swim trunks, was insisting on wearing a tank top. It didn't take any time at all for them to make it back to the water, Mystery barked happily as he saw them come into view again.  
  
Vivi got into the water first, running in crying out in what was at first whoops of glee and excitement, that quickly turned into cries of cold and shock as she realized that the water was everything but warm. Arthur laughed at her, and Lewis just shook his head as he set down the towels that he had remembered to bring. After petting Mystery, who had decided to lay on top of the towels, he looked around to see Arthur running up the hill to the rope.   
  
"Arthur are you sure that's safe?" he called out worry lacing his voice.

After grabbing the rope Arthur looked down to Lewis, "Don't worry, of course it's safe! Now watch Vivi, this is how you get into the water!"  
  
With a shout he ran forward, swinging on the rope and letting go just in the center of the water. Arthur hit the water with a huge splash, forcing Vivi to cover her face with her hands to shield herself from the water. Arthur resurfaced laughing alongside Vivi. A moment passed before both of them realized Lewis was still lingering on the edge of the water, his feet barely submerged.  
  
"Lewis what are you doing man?" Arthur questioned, confused as to why he was taking so long.  
  
"It's cold." was the quick response Lewis gave, inching into the water to prove he was going to get in. Eventually. Maybe.  
  
"Lew you big baby, come on! We both jumped in!" Vivi called out. Lewis crossed his arms across his chest and shook his head. There was no way they were going to make him get in the water that fast. Little by little he inched out, as Vivi and Arthur swam about. It was after about 10 minutes, and Lewis being only knee deep in did they decide it was time to intervene. Sharing a knowing look they swam over.  
  
"What are you guys doing...?" Lewis asked, not for a second trusting them. He never got an answer, because just as Vivi and Arthur were close to him they grabbed his arms and pulled him down and out into the water with them. Once free from their grasp, Lewis surfaced spitting out water. Goose-bumps had risen all over his body, and his teeth were chattering rather comically. "That. Was. Not. Cool. Guys." he sputtered out.  
  
"Come on, it's not _that_ cold!" Vivi laughed at him, before swimming out of the reach of the splash that Lewis aimed at her for her comment. Glaring at Arthur he splashed the water at him too.  
  
"Hey! Hey! I didn't even say anything dude!" he said, but the grin on his face said far more than Arthur ever would. The look on Lewis' face on the other hand, said only one thing: vengeance. He splashed at Arthur again, who splashed back. Then Vivi came back to splash both of them. Next thing they knew Mystery had jumped into the water and was splashing as best he could back at them too. In mere seconds the most epic, splash battle the world would ever see took place. Even if there were any ghosts around, they would have been chased of by the sheer ferocity of the splash battle taking place. As they splashed, all fire spirits and ghosts a like vacated the five mile radius around the pond-lake. Vivi ended up being the most vicious competitor in their battle, Lewis and Arthur were of equal strength, and it was obvious who would win. Until using his most dastardly of tricks, Arthur swam beneath the surface, grabbed Vivi by her ankles and pulled her down. What he didn't expect was that when they both resurfaced they would be splashed by the combined force of Lewis and Mystery.   
  
"I yield! I yield!" she cried out. Mystery seemed to get the message that the battle was over and swam back to shore, then proceeded to roll around in their towels. After that they all swam leisurely about the water. Vivi and Arthur both took turns vaulting off the rope swing above, while Lewis graded their diving techniques. Vivi and Arthur were both tied with the score "Incredibly Fish-Like" for awhile but then Arthur pulled ahead with "As Graceful as a Rock" beating Vivi just barely with her own "Stick that won't Float". As the day started winding down, and the gang was feeling all swimmed-out, they started getting out of the water.  
  
Then Vivi spoke up, "Hey, Lewis, before we go you should go off the jump just one time!"   
  
"I don't know..." Lewis said rubbing the back of his head nervously, "It just kind of looks. A bit high up?"  
  
She pouted a bit, while understanding his problem with heights she wasn't going to miss an opportunity to try and help him feel more comfortable with them, "Come on! It's really safe. Me and Arthur went off plenty of times, we'll be right here if anything happens, but nothing will! It's really fun I promise." Arthur looked between Lewis in Vivi indecisively. A part of him wanted to tell Vivi to drop it, there was no need to ruin a good day with making Lewis do something he wasn't comfortable with. The other part of him though said try and convince Lewis to go off the jump. Then it struck him.  
  
"I've got an idea," he exclaimed, causing everyone to look at him, "We could all go off the jump together!" Vivi and Lewis both looked like they were actually considering the idea. Vivi more than Lewis that is.  
  
"I still don't know..." was the response that Lewis finally gave.  
  
"Please Lewis! It's really fun! We can go off all together like Arthur said!" Vivi pleaded.   
  
With a deep sigh their purple haired friend gave in, "Just once."  
  
Vivi ran up the hill in a flash, while Arthur trailed next to Lewis who was more than a little nervous about the jump. Once at the top of the hill, Lewis was biting his lip. When handed the rope, he felt like his heart was going to stop. When Vivi and Arthur grabbed onto the rope as well though, their hands framing the placement his hands on the rope, he felt that he might be okay.  
  
"On the count of three? Okay bud, it's gonna be fine." Arthur said reassuringly.  
  
"One..." Lewis wanted to say that he changed his mind.  
  
"Two..." Lewis wanted to let go of the rope and get away.  
  
"Three!" Lewis wanted to do anything else, but when Vivi and Arthur ran forward he was forced to follow. Next thing he knew he was suspended in the air above the water. Next, Vivi and Arthur were letting go. With a strong desire to get back down, he did so too. As he was falling though, the rush of emotion he felt wasn't completely fear, he was surprised and confused to realize. It was actually a bit fun. With one final splash they hit the water and resurfaced.  
  
Arthur and Vivi looked at him expectantly. Putting on a small smile he spoke, "It could have been worse." His friends smiles were good enough a reward for having faced his fear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, if y'all see any errors or such tell me and I'll correct them. <3 More soon-ish. I was supposed to write this yesterday but then Fall Out happened. And then I started making pixel babies of the Mystery skulls gang, they're all on my blog dorito-skeleton under the "my art" tag.


	11. Kingdom Come

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They were just passing through town.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before the accident.
> 
> Promt from Sal, Lewis saving Arthur last minute from something and being all worried about him.

They had just been planning on passing through the town. They were going to fill up the van, buy some snacks and supplies (Vivi needed her pads, Lewis had to refill his inhaler and Arthur really wanted some Doritos), take Mystery for a quick walkie and then continue on their way. There was no way they were going to stay in the town longer than a day. Not that it was a bad town of course, it was quite beautiful. It was an older city and the architecture was beautiful. The sky line was a mess of older buildings meeting the newer ones in a strange harmony. Arthur had thought the city was quite beautiful, and had almost wanted to take a couple of memory photos before they moved on, but now he wanted nothing to do with the place. It seemed as if he couldn't go anywhere without something bad happening to him.  
  
For once though, he had not seen it coming at all. He'd been buying the snacks for the gang, when a woman came up to him as he was about to leave. She looked to be about middle aged, and was wearing a pastors' outfit. It had been a simple request, just if he could help her take her groceries to her car, they were for a food bank at her church. Arthur had no qualms with helping her out, it was for a good cause of course! So without hesitation he agreed and then helped her take her things out. It would only take a minute, Lewis and Vivi could wait for their mini donuts a few moments longer right? 

He was wrong apparently.  
  
As he finished helping the woman load the last of her groceries into the back of her large van, he turned to ask her if there was anything else she needed help with. It was then something heavy hit him across the head, and after that. It all went dark.  
  
Arthur didn't know how long he had been out, but when he finally did wake he wished he hadn't. He didn't know what time it was, where he was, or even why this was happening. He was in a small windowless room, the only light was coming from the hundreds of candles that were everywhere. On shelves, lining the walls, but most of the candles were grouped around a large crucifix on a desk that was at the head of the room. The woman was there, sitting at the desk whispering to herself. The words falling from her lips were to quiet for Arthur to make out, but he was convinced that even if he could hear what she was saying, he wouldn't want to. Looking around at himself know, Arthur realized that he was tied to a very ornate, cushioned chair. To his left and right were little tables, filled to the brim with all sorts of objects. Ranging from candles to plants and strange tools of all kinds. Most notably on the table to the left, there was a large basin filled with water and next to it a white, leather bound book. He looked at the woman quickly, she hadn't noticed that he was awake yet, maybe he could still find a way out of this. He didn't want to stick around to find out what weird monster she was.

Arthur moved his hands slowly, testing how tight the knots holding his wrists down to the arm of the chair were. His left wrist had more movement than the right. If he could just get to his pocket knife then he could get out of here without the woman being any the wiser. He wiggled his wrist against the binds, trying to slip it out without making to much noise. To Arthur though, it felt as if all the noises in the room were seven times louder than they actually were. He thought that just the sounds of his heart beating were going to alert his captor that he was awake. The bindings, he thinks it's twine, were rubbing his wrist raw, but he couldn't stop, they were almost over his knuckles now, and moment longer and he would have it. 

He popped his arm free, glancing at the women quickly to make sure she was still preoccupied he dove his hand into his pockets searching for his knife. Hoping to anything still listening to him that she hadn't had the intelligence to search his pockets before tying him down like this. Left pocket, no, right pocket, no. Twisting slightly he reached into his back pocket, and was relieved to find the knife there. He was slightly less relieved to see the woman starting to stand up. Gripping his hand around the knife he shoved his hand back through the binding, concealing it under his arm. He watched her. She picked up a small cloth and covered the crucifix up, and blew the candles out that were around it. Drenching that part of the room in darkness.  
  
She walked over to him, a smile gracing her lips ever so softly as she noticed he was awake.   
  
"Good morning," she said, flipping open the book on the table.  
  
"Uhh. Mornin'?" he responded quietly. His head was starting to pound, whatever she used to knock him out was really starting to hurt. She said nothing as she flipped the pages. Arthur tried his luck, "What book is that?"  
  
She glanced at him, "A very special one." Finding her page she smoothed the paper down gently with her hands, the way she looked at the book was the way a couple would look at each other. She continued after a moment, "This book here, tells me all the secrets. All the little ways to destroy your kind."  
  
"My kind??" he said confused, "I'm just some dude!"  
  
The near mad laughter that she gave after he said those words was concerning. What could this women possibly think he was? "Some dude indeed. They all say that. And who is the one that is made the fool because of it. Me. Always me. The first time, they wouldn't let me come back to the church. Said I needed time away. But I heard them whisper. Talking of me. Saying I was losing it. The old man was the devil himself and I know it," breaking off her spiel with laughter she stepped directly in front of Arthur leaning over to look him the eyes barely an inch away from his face, "I won't let this city be plagued by you and your unholy friends, you beast, I'll send you back from whence you've come."  
  
Arthur tried pushing himself back further into the chair trying to give himself some breathing room. As she noticed his discomfort she smiled wickedly and went back to her book. "Ma'am, Miss, Mrs, whatever. I literally have no idea. What you are talking about. I'm just some kid. On a road trip with my friends. Okay?" He carefully left out the whole paranormal investigation part, because that would probably not fair well for her image of him at the moment.

"You're a demon then? You've taken on the body of a kid? I knew I smelt the sulfuric smells of possession upon your ugly mug," she snapped. Arthur was about to say that even if he was possessed she had just called him ugly, not the so called demon, when she had taken up the bowl of water and emptied it's contents over the top of his head. It looked like she was waiting for something to happen, but when nothing did, she threw the bowl behind her in anger. Grabbing a silver looking knife off the table she turned to him again.  
  
"Hey, Hey! No need for that! Just let me go! I won't even tell the police about this okay!" Arthur said panicked, she grabbed his arm and brandished the knife looking as if she was trying to figure out where to strike. "Come on lady! Aren't you of the faith or something! Doesn't this go against your belief!!?"  
  
"You go against my belief." She stated in a mere whisper as she brought the knife down on his arm. Hacking left and right. Arthur howled out in pain now trying to writhe his way out of the bindings uselessly. Not getting the reaction she desired she moved to his other arm, and repeated her actions there. Arthur's blood spilled onto the floor in loud drips. With a grunt of anger she threw the knife away as well. She grabbed book up off the table and started pacing the room. She paused her movement as she neared where the desk was, standing in near darkness as she read.   
  
Even through the pain, Arthur knew that now was going to be his only chance to get away. Pulling his arm free of the binding again, trying not to agitate the cuts that she had inflicted on him. He flipped the knife open and started cutting his other arm free as fast as he could. Once his right arm was cut free he started working on freeing his legs. As he cut he looked up occasionally at the women. After a moment, she cursed loudly and threw the book across the room further into the darkness. The woman ripped the cloth off the crucifix and began yelling at it's image.  
  
"WHY! ISN'T IT WORKING?? DID YOU PUT THESE DEMONIC BEASTS HERE JUST TO MOCK ME??? LET MET CLEANSE THIS PLACE. LET ME. LET ME."  
  
Arthur chose to ignore her as she yelled. One leg free. One more now. Almost there. Almost there. And. And. Free! Jumping up he dashed to the door and tried pulling it open. His heart was filled with dread as he realized it was locked.  
  
"You would try to run?" he turned to look at her. She was still standing in the darker half of the room. Yet he knew she was staring directly at him. "I won't let you. Not this time. No demon will escape. This town is my kingdom. This town is mine. I'll not let you take it away with your unholy evils."  
  
"You're crazy! Lady I'm not possessed! Let me out of here!" he yelled. He hoped that someone somewhere would hear all the yelling and come help him.   
  
"No one is ever leaving here again. I'll burn us both alive before I let a demon walk free." she said. Arthur looked past her trying to find another way out. There was another door, or what looked like one on the other side of the room. He could run past her and get out. But what if she grabbed him? It was with that thought that he finally remembered the weight of the knife in his hand. He could use it if he had to... but did he have it in him to stab someone? He could accidentally kill her. The burning pain from the cuts on his arms reminded him though, that she wouldn't hesitate to kill him to get what she wanted.  
   
The woman grabbed a lighter, it must have been sitting on the desk, and started stalking slowly towards him. He had no idea what she would do with it, but he didn't want to find out. Arthur froze. Mentally juggling his options between hoping for a rescue or throwing caution to the wind and trying to fight past her. He had no need to decide though, as the other door creaked open loudly. A silhouette in the darkness appeared, who it was he couldn't make out. The sound broke the women out of her advance towards him and she turned to face it. It threw something at her. The book. It clocked her right in the head, and the impact knocked her over onto the ground.  
  
"Arthur! Run!" a familiar tenor called out. Without hesitation, Arthur dashed into the darkness. The two ran up a pair of stairs, and through what looked like a normal house, and out the front door. Arthur was relieved to see Vivi there, and Mystery too standing next to the van. It was dark out, they must have been looking for him all day.  
  
"Arthur! Oh god what happened!" she said, even though she was technically on the phone with who knows who.  
  
"Some crazy lady thought I was a demon!" Vivi, and Lewis looked at him in shock. A voice on the phone brought Vivi's attention back to it, and she started giving it the address of the house. "Did you guys just like break into the house or something?"   
  
It was Lewis who answered, "The front door was wide open, I went in to make sure nothing was wrong, but then I heard yelling from downstairs, and well I found you." Lewis looked down at Arthur's arms and gasped in shock. Gently he grabbed on of Arthur's arms and pulled it closer to himself, "Oh my goodness, Arthur what did she do to you?? We should take you to the hospital or something! Oh my god what else did she do? Are you okay? You're bleeding quite a bit, maybe you should sit down so you don't get light headed." Lewis started looking over the rest of him, trying to find any other signs of injury.  
  
"I'm fine Lew! I'm fine! It's no big deal." he said, Lewis looked unconvinced. So did Mystery, as the little dog moved to stand right next to Arthur in a protective manner. A cop car appeared, and it parked itself on the side of the street. Arthur tuned out the conversations that happened next. The police went into the house, came out with no one. They were asked to come to the station to answer a few questions. Something about getting medical attention for Arthur at the station. Lewis herded him into the van, they would follow behind the cops. Vivi drove, glancing into the back seat where he and Lewis were a few times with concern written across her face plain as day.  
  
Lewis was whispering something to him, he didn't bother listening to what it was. All he knew was that now he was safe with his friends. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, if y'all see any errors or such tell me and I'll correct them. <3 More soon-ish. Sorry this one took so long! Haha, school was hard this week.


	12. Mirror, Mirror

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone has that first encounter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before the Accident.  
> This chapter is not the best, I had to write it in short spurts here and there to even get it finished. I hope I have time to write a Christmas chapter soon, but it's finals week. And I'm hella biz.

Lewis remembers the first time he experienced something supernatural. He wishes that he didn't though. He'd been ten years old. A few of his aunts, uncles and cousins had come to visit. His cousins, who were several years older than him, had given up on trying to get him to go to sleep and had decided to have a little fun with the annoying little kid they had to put up with. They'd never meant it maliciously, they loved their baby cousin, but anyone would be annoyed if a little kid wouldn't go to sleep when the bigger kids wanted to talk about more _"adult"_ things.

So they had decided to play a game.

Just a little game to scare him so he'd go to sleep.  
  
They decided to play Bloody Mary. No one knew what would happen. At midnight Lewis crept up the stairs to the bathroom, the one with the big ornate mirror on the wall. With the red stones that were in each corner of the mirror. It had been there since Lewis' family had bought the home, it had been a very old house indeed. No one knew what that mirror was. Closing the door, turning out the light, and looking into the mirror. Lewis spoke.  
  
"Bloody Mary."

The house creaked, and Lewis swallowed his fear.  
  
"Bloody Mary." 

Silence fell and the darkness crept closer. Lewis' heart beat faster than ever.  
  
"Bloody..."  
  
"..."  
  
"Mary."  
  
A moment passed, and Lewis thought that nothing would happen. With a sigh of relief he turned the light back on. In the mirror replacing his reflection was the dark silhouette of a woman. Blood ran down the slick glass of the mirror, and the shadows that made her arms reached out towards him. Lewis' voice failed him. He couldn't make a sound, couldn't move. The woman in the mirrors hands wrapped around his neck, but the second they touched Lewis' skin. A freezing cold shocked him back into reality, and he threw open the door and ran to his room without a word. He heard his cousins laughing downstairs. He didn't go yell at them for scaring him. He covered every reflective object in his room with a cloth, and hid under the blankets and cried till morning.

* * *

 It was years later when he saw her again.

He'd never told the gang about what happened that night. He didn't want to believe it had been real. It had taken him long enough to go nights without having nightmares about a chilling, cold, shadow that was wrapping itself around his neck. He didn't want to think about it. Even after years had gone by, he had always refused to go into that bathroom ever again. His parents had been concerned about it, his cousins teased him about it. But he would never go back in there again. 

Now though, he had been forced back to confront what had happened that night. There had been an old local legend that people over the years were being murdered by a vengeful spirit in a local hotel. No connection had ever been made between the deaths at the hotel, until Vivi discovered something. All the deaths occurred, not in the same rooms or any other connecting factor, but in front of the same mirror. As time passed and ownership of the hotel flipped and flopped, the rooms decorations were rearranged and the mirror traveled from room to room. The most recent death had been only two years ago. Vivi had spent all night flipping through the old police files and news reports they had access to when she discovered the connection between all the deaths. When she pointed it out showing them the pictures of the crime scenes all with the same mirror in them, Lewis had felt dread fill his heart. A dread so heavy that he almost felt like he would stop breathing again, which he most certainly would stop breathing if he came anywhere near that mirror.   
  
They booked a room at the hotel and Vivi went to the owner of the hotel and asked what room the mirror had been put into now, saying something about how they were interested in buying it. The response they got wasn't good. It was still in the hotel of course, but it had been moved to the sub-basement, something about it not fitting the new theme the hotel was aiming for. The owner said that if they wanted to go down and find it to examine it's condition that that was completely alright. As long as they didn't make a mess that is. Arthur was the one to protest going down into the basement, it would be dark and creepy. Lewis said nothing.

So into the basement they went. The service elevator doors screeched open, and the dim lights of their flashlights barely cast enough light for them to see a few feet in front of them.   
  
"Let's split up, we'll find it quicker. Remember no one say the name, got it?" Vivi had said, pointing each of them into different directions. Mystery followed close behind Arthur, as they all went separate ways. Lewis hoped he wouldn't find the mirror. Or if he did, he hoped it was smashed to bits. The sub-basement didn't echo, it was to tightly packed with all sorts of things. The air in the basement itself gave Lewis a very claustrophobic feeling. It was hot and heavy, and it was almost impossible to not bump into the things stacked and lined up along the floor and walls. Old wardrobes, couches, china cabinets, and sheets of all kinds draped over the forgotten relics.   
  
Lewis' breathing was loud. The anxious breaths he took short and uneven as he tried to breath the musty air without coughing. He walked slowly through the little path that had been made by hotel workers to get through the basement. The further he went into the dark basement though, the less anxious and afraid he felt. The breaths he took still not close to being normal, but he felt in his heart that he was just heading towards the inevitable. Part of him wanted to turn around immediately and run to find Vivi or Arthur. Part of him knew it was already too late. With each step he felt his lungs protest the movement forward, but his legs wouldn't listen and onward into the dark he went.  
  
The light of his flashlight suddenly reflected back at him. There it was. The damned mirror, leaning up against a dresser, with a drape half pulled off. An arm made of shadows, was reaching out of it tugging at the drape, trying to reveal itself completely. It was as if she knew he was coming. He should have turned tail and run right there and then, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. With a clank, Lewis dropped the flashlight he was carrying and step by step carried himself closer to the mirror. Air shuddering in and our of his chest as he reached towards the drape covering the object. It was time. Something seemed to be calling him forward, beckoning him towards the mirror, towards her.  
  
Lewis pulled the drape the rest of the way off and met "eyes" with the shadow creature in the mirror. Even without any other facial feature but the fierce red glowing dots that were her eyes, Mary looked so angry. The one who got away had come back again. It was then that the haze that had come over Lewis broke, just as the shadowy hands grasped his neck harshly. With a startled, and chocking screech, Lewis felt the pain overwhelm him. The hands that looked cold as the shadow they were made of, felt like they were burning his skin. A burning cold that permeated his skin into the core of his body, and as he gasped for breath he pushed his hands against the glass of the mirror trying to push away from it. Mary was stronger than him though, and with a tug she brought him to his knees, and his hands sunk into the glass as if it was made of water. Her intention was no longer to kill him, but to pull him into her own world. What she planned to do there, Lewis didn't ever want to know.  
  
He chocked out a shuddering plea for help, his arms now sunk elbow deep into the mirror. Mary's hands tightened around his throat. The darkness of the sub-basement was sinking in around him, claiming his vision as it's own. His arms were almost completely drawn into the mirror when he felt the touch of something else. He didn't have time to learn what they were from though, as he let his eyes close and submit themselves to the dark.  
  
It had been Arthur.  
  
He'd heard the scream, and the word "help" cut through the silence that had been the sub-basement. Mystery had ran off to find Vivi he thinks, leaving Arthur to find Lewis being sucked into the mirror, with Mary's deadly hands wrapped around his friends neck. For once he hadn't hesitated in fear, and did what he knew he needed to do. He grabbed Lewis around his waist and pulled him back out of the mirror. Arthur wasn't deterred by the menacing look that the infamous Bloody Mary gave him as blood started dripping down the pane of the glass, he knew what he had to do.  
  
"Let go of my friend!!" he yelled at her. Her dead eyes narrowed with rage, and with a inhuman growl she used all her strength to pull backwards once again. They were matched, neither able to pull one or the other further in or out of the dreaded mirror. Arthur and Mary met eyes with each other. He was determined to save Lewis, she was determined to kill him. Yet, Arthur knew that if he was going to save Lewis he would have to act fast. He'd already felt his friend go limp and slip into unconsciousness. Mystery and Vivi were no where in sight though, and Mary looked like she could stay like this forever. He'd have to do something. Breaking the gaze Arthur looked around rapidly, trying to find something to help him. Rags, cloth, shoes, all sorts of junk that couldn't be helpful. Then he saw a hammer, just to the right of the mirror on the floor.   
  
Without a moment of further thought, Arthur dropped himself down onto the floor and braced his feet on either side of the mirrors frame. Mary let one hand off of Lewis' neck and grabbed onto his leg trying to either push it away or pull it in. Gathering the fabric of Lewis' shirt tightly in one hand to strengthen his grip, Arthur reached out with his other arm to reach for the hammer. In his adrenaline filled rush to grab it, he nearly knocked it away, but he managed to grab onto it.   
  
"Don't mess with my friends. Ever. Again!" lifting the hammer up he quickly threw it at the cursed object. The mirror shattered sending glass shards everywhere. Mary's image itself seemed to crack and as she let out a loud howl and then she too shattered. Yet it was not glass shards that she broke into. Blood splattered the surrounding objects left in the basement, and Arthur and Lewis as well. Arthur watched in shock, he honestly had no idea if that breaking the mirror would have worked. Breathing heavily he sat up, resting Lewis' head on his lap. He was still unconscious.

"Lewis?"  
  
Silence followed.   
  
"Lewis? Come on buddy, don't do this" Arthur shook him, trying to get him awake, "Wake up Lewis. Wake up, wake up."  
  
Now that the danger was gone, Arthur finally began to feel the fear that he had put aside when confronting Mary. His voice cracked as he kept calling to Lewis, who was so unusually still. He didn't know what to do. He rested one hand on the others chest, and leaned down. Listening for a breath, waiting for his chest to rise. Hoping for the tell tale signs of life. 

He heard Mystery barking, and the muffled voice most likely belonging to Vivi. A few more seconds passed when he felt it. Lewis' chest rising, a quiet breath passing through his lips. Arthur nearly cried just from the relief.  Mystery ran up beside him barking loudly in either worry or happiness. A few moments later Vivi showed up as well, out of breath and covered in a mysteriously large amount of dust.  
  
"Arthur, oh my god. What happened?" she knelt down beside him, one hand resting on his shoulder and the other on Lewis, "Is Lewis okay? Are you okay? Is that the-"  
  
Arthur cut her off in the middle of her panic laced sentence, "It's gonna be okay Vi. It's gonna be okay."

* * *

They stayed the night in the hotel. The owner had been shocked to see Arthur and Lewis splattered in blood, and Lewis unconscious at that. They knew he would never believe the real story, so Vivi made something up on the spot. Something about falling objects and ages old ketchup. The kind old man gave them a discount for their troubles. If only he knew how troubling the journey to the basement had really been. Once in their room they tucked Lewis into bed, and had waited for him to wake up. They knew Lewis wasn't stupid, he wouldn't say the Bloody Mary curse into the mirror when he knew that's who they were looking for. So what happened? They would have to wait to hear it from him though, so they found something else to occupy their time. Vivi had immediately jumped online and started doing research on the mirror. Arthur had gone back to reading a book he had been trying to get through. Mystery had paced around the edge of the bed Lewis was resting on, if anyone besides Vivi or Arthur had tried to go near their resting companion it's obvious Mystery would have something to say about it.  
  
When Lewis had woken up around half an hour or so after what happened in the basement he explained everything in a hoarse voice. His home with the mirror that he had first met Bloody Mary in, his close encounter, his first experience with the supernatural. Then he apologized to them for not telling them what was waiting for them.  
  
The other hadn't the heart to be even remotely upset with him. Except for Vivi who said something shortly about saying something if only to protect his own well-being. After that though, Vivi had gone back to looking up something on her laptop. Mystery jumped up on the bed with Lewis, laying in his lap protectively. Arthur sat on the edge of the bed with him after a moment, giving up on trying to focus on his book.  
  
"So, hey Lew" he started, causing Lewis to look up from Mystery to Arthur waiting for him to say more, "You okay?"  
  
"Oh yea, yea! I'm fine." A moment of silence passed between them before Lewis cleared his throat and spoke again, "Arthur. Thank you for saving me from her. And sorry again for not telling you guys."  
  
Arthur smiled shyly a blush lightly dusting his cheeks, not used to being the one to save the others. "It's no big deal dude. You've done the same for me a lot of times. As for not telling us, who cares. It's over now, no need to worry about it."  
  
"Actually", Vivi said drawing both of their attentions to her, "I was a bit suspicious about the fact that Lewis met Mary in a mirror at his own house, and then again here. I was convinced that they couldn't be the same mirror. There was a creators name carved on the back of it so I looked them up and turns out they made four of those exact same mirrors. This was only one of them. Another is going to be the one at Lewis' place."  
  
"So there's two more?" Arthur said in disbelief, "That Bloody brat isn't in those too right??"  
  
Vivi shook her head, "I don't know. But I don't think it's something we can let go. To many people are in danger, the legend of Bloody Mary is everywhere. The same thing that happened to Lewis could happen to someone else! I have no idea where the other mirrors are, but I'll keep looking for them. We can't let her hurt anyone else."

Arthur looked over at Lewis, who didn't look at all pleased about this news. Then, Lewis' faced turned from apprehension to determination.  
  
"Looks like we've got our work cut out for us gang! I think we should head back home soon. You know. It's been awhile. Mama and Papa would love to see us!"  
  
Arthur knew what he meant, so did Vivi. It wasn't just about getting rid of Mary. It was making sure no one in his family or anyone else would ever have to suffer the curse she laid upon people.  
  
With that, Arthur smiled. If Lewis was going to be brave enough to face Mary at least three more times, Arthur would be brave enough to stand with him.  
  
After a quick thought he amended that, maybe they would both be brave enough to stand behind Vivi. Yea. They could do that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, if y'all see any errors or such tell me and I'll correct them. Hero Arthur is the best Arthur. Long live the King <3 Also. Galaham is a thing now, so I'll add him to chapters after this one, because I started writing this before Galaham was made official.


	13. All You Need

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What do you really need?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before the accident. //Warning I didn't edit this before posting because it's Christmas Eve and well I hope it's okay!

Christmas at Arthur's place was never a big event. Sure it was celebrated, but most years Arthur felt like that was only because it was a social requirement. That was of course, until he moved in with his Uncle Lance. He was his mother's brother, and he was probably one of the coolest guys Arthur had ever met. Uncle Lance had always been there for him, always taught him to do things. Like ride bikes, and how to fix cars and how to play the Keytar. His uncle had been there when his parents were arguing to much to bother to take care of a little boy. The year his mother died had been a rough one, Arthur knew she had gotten really sick, but he never knew exactly with what. He never wanted to ask why, considering his dad always yelled when he asked about what happened. Soon after her funeral, his dad gave up custody of him and he officially became a dependent of his Uncle Lance. It wasn't a rough move, Arthur already spent a lot of time with his uncle, so he was more than happy for it to be a full time thing.

This all happened when he was ten, and a year later, Arthur was still happy with it. New school, two great new friends named Vivi and Lewis and a home where he could come back to and be who he is without worry. Sure living with his uncle wasn't exactly a kings lifestyle, but to Arthur it was all he needed. He had been quite disappointed to learn that he couldn't spend some time with his friends during the Winter Break though. Vivi was travelling to go visit family to celebrate Hanukkah, and Lewis had family travelling to spend Christmas with his family. So the whole break for Arthur so far had been sitting on the couch watching movies waiting for Uncle Lance to be done with work each day.

He'd taken to trying to figure out what to get his uncle for the quickly upcoming holiday. Before, his mom would always taken him out shopping and she'd help him pick something out, but now. Now he had to to do it on his own. He was more than tempted to call Lewis up and see if he could help out, even if his friend was preoccupied with tending to his relatives. Still though, he wouldn't want to get Lewis in trouble for being on the phone with friends during "family time". So putting on his coat and grabbing his little sack of change that'd he had picked up around the house and off the streets throughout the year, he went out. Literally the day before Christmas, so he couldn't be picky. He wanted to give something to his uncle. Honestly though, Arthur didn't know what his uncle liked beyond working in his shop and watching old sci-fi movies on netflix.

They were really dorky sci-fi films too, they were the ones where you could see the strings holding up the space ships as they flew around. Smiling at the memory of Uncle Lance's intense face as he watched those shows, always trying to explain the weird logic to him. Maybe he should get something science-y for his Uncle. 

He went into the first shop on the boulevard in town. It was one of those weird stores with all the movies and video games, Arthur never liked coming in here. It smelt like old cabbage. After looking around for awhile, and getting watched by the management the entire time he moved to the next shop. Then the next shop after that, and the next after that. He really was hopeless, what kind of nephew was he when after a whole year of living with his uncle he had no idea what to get the guy.

Maybe he should put the money on a gift card? Yeah, to that one restaurant Uncle Lance is always talking about Pepper Paradiso. Arthur personally preferred pizza, but his uncle loved that place. It's not the most inventive gift idea in the world, but on such short notice it's all he could think of. Getting up he started to head down to the little restaurant. Next year he would get help from Lewis on what to get his uncle. It was as he walked down the street that he saw it, and without a moment of hesitation, he ran into a little shop named Star Gazer. 

* * *

 

He had no idea how to wrap the gift. So he stuffed it in the broom closet and hoped Uncle Lance wouldn't need in there till after tomorrow morning. He was so lucky he had enough for it, well, half of it. He was on an honor system, the shop owner knew his uncle well and said that as long as he comes back to pay the other half of the price of the present he'd let him take it home now. Arthur will just have to take some odd jobs from his neighbors for awhile till he has enough to do that. For now though, he just hopes that the present will be worth the extra effort he's going to put out for it.

Flopping onto the couch to watch probably the one hundredth re-run of A Christmas Story, Arthur glanced at the clock. Almost time for his uncle to get off work and come back from work at Kingsmen Mechanics. He couldn't wait, it was going to be his first Christmas with Uncle Lance. At first, his uncle had wanted to do the older traditions, like hanging up stockings and making cookies for Santa. Arthur felt kind of bad when he told his uncle that he didn't believe in Santa still. Boy he remembered telling Lewis and Vivi about that, turns out of the three of them Lewis was the only one who still believed in Santa. His alpaca-loving friend was shocked to discover their disbelief. It fit his personality though, Lewis was sweeter than sugar. 

Arthur heard the tell tale sounds of Uncle Lance's motorcycle, proudly named Guinevere, pulling into the drive way.   
  
As the door opened Arthur called out a greeting, "Hi Uncle Lance!"  
  
"Hey Artie, how you doing buddy? Keep the black knight at bay while I was gone?" his uncle responded, taking off his jacket and dropping it on the arm of the chair.  
  
"Yeah. He almost got in, but I beat him." he responded. He and his uncle commonly refereed to the house as Camelot, and whenever Uncle Lance had to leave Arthur at home he told him to watch out for the black knight.

Uncle Lance flopped down on the couch next to him regarding the show on the screen with a little more than a glance before turning to Arthur. "So Artie. If I told you I've been keeping a present hidden for a couple weeks now, but it wasn't a present that could go under the tree, what would you say?"  
  
"I'd say, why can't it go under the tree?" he responded, immediately trying to piece together a present that couldn't go under the tree. He knew the present he got for Uncle Lance couldn't go under the tree, but that was different.

"Well it's not something that can be wrapped, and it needs to be taken care of." his uncle responded, "What would you say then?"  
  
"I'd say, what is it." he laughed, knowing that asking what it was probably wasn't going to get an answer out of it.  
  
"Hmm, I don't know what it is. What would you say if, perhaps I don't want to wait till tomorrow morning to give it to you." 

"Are you gonna give it to me now?" Arthur said, perking up a little.

His uncle laughed, "Hey now, calm down. I might, but I don't know. I really don't wanna keep it hidden for such a short amount of time longer, but I don't wanna ruin your Christmas morning by giving you one of your presents now."  
  
"No, no! You wouldn't ruin anything!" 

"Hmmm. Let me think. I mean, you've been such a good kid this year. Even if you don't believe in Santa."  
  
"Do you believe in Santa? We can make cookies for him then if you want to!" 

"That doesn't sound half bad."  
  
Did his uncle really believe in Santa? Maybe he thought Santa was an alien.

"But nah, if we make cookies I promise you I will eat them all before some guy in a red suit comes down our non-existent chimney." he ruffled Arthur's hair then stood, "I guess you can have him now, to be honest I've been dying to let you have him for weeks now. I'm surprised I managed to hold off giving him to you this long."  
  
"Him?" Arthur whispered as his Uncle went upstairs to retrieve the gift. He was practically jumping with excitement. He never usually got this excited over gifts, but his uncle sure did know how to build up tension.  
  
Stepping back into the living room arms behind his back, most likely holding something, Uncle Lance spoke, "Okay now close your eyes and hold out your hands Artie."   
  
Doing as instructed he waited. Listening to the sound of his uncle walk across the floor and then place something very soft into his hands. Something soft, and warm. Something soft and warm that was moving. He opened his eyes and looked into the eyes of the little creature in his hands. A hamster. A little hamster.  
  
He had no words, he sat back against the couch and stared at the little creature. He didn't seem to be using his lower legs, but Arthur didn't care. He'd never had a pet before and this little guy was possibly the best pet ever.  
  
"You're, uh, a little quiet there buddy. Everything okay?" he uncle said quietly, obviously waiting for some form of response to the hamster in Arthur's hands.

"I love him!" Arthur said. A smile grew onto Uncle Lance's face and he sat back down next to Arthur, watching his little nephew stare at the hamster with awe.

The hamster squeaked and wrapped it's upper legs around one of Arthur's fingers. "Hi little guy, I'm Arthur" he looked up at his uncle, "Does he have a name yet?"

"Well the pet store named him Vernon, but you can call him whatever you like."  
  
"Can we name him Galahad?" Arthur said. A sound of confirmation from Uncle Lance was all he needed. He moved to hug his Uncle, being careful not to drop or squish Galahad between them. "Thank you so much Uncle Lance, this is the best thing ever!"  
  
"Of course little guy." Uncle Lance responded, ruffling his nephews hair and leaving a little kiss on his head as well, "Now how about we make some cookie?"  
  
"Yea!"

* * *

 Uncle Lance was asleep on the couch. Between the two of them they'd made enough cookies to feed a small army. Galahad was sleeping on a big pillow that Arthur had brought down for him, along with the little blanket Uncle Lance had gotten the hamster. It was nearly midnight right now, and Arthur was tired. But he had one last thing to do.  
  
He had to move his present for Uncle Lance into the living room. It was the best idea ever. When he saw the shop Star Gazer he remembered something his uncle had said once while talking to his mother. He used to watch the stars, said he was looking for aliens and the like. During a move though, he'd lost his telescope and just hadn't gotten around to getting a new one. He could go watching again now though. It wasn't a classy telescope, or very fancy either, but it was just what his uncle needed. Arthur set it up right next to the tree and put a bow on it. Grabbing a blanket he threw it over his uncle, and then climbed into the other chair in the room. 

Sure life here wasn't all to glamorous or exciting. But it was all he needed, and with his new companion Galahad - Arthur knew he wouldn't need much of anything else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I've been neglecting Vivi, so next couple chapters I want to be a bit more Vivi-Centric! Any good prompts for our valiant leader? Hope this chapter is okay, I kind of wrote it last minute.
> 
> Also, don't know why I did what I did with Arthur's parents, but with the limited info I have I needed a reason for Artie to spent Christmas with Uncle Lance. Also, also. I don't know how the custody system works. All I know about it is what went down when we tried to adopt my cousin. Also, also, also, I still don't know who the youngest is!! Lewis or Arthur! it all depends on when the accident happened hhhh. Also, also, also, also. I've changed a bit of the ending of chapter 7 to be compliant with what I set up here.


	14. Wasting Our Lives

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With sorrow breads anger. Anger breeds regret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After the accident. I don't know how to do the time passage after the accident, because we just have ages so I'm keeping it vague. Also if you haven't noticed - I'm not going the "doesn't remember Lewis" route with Vivi. It's more the, she doesn't remember what happened.

Her first birthday after the accident was rough. The traditions the gang had always practiced on each others respective birthdays were beyond broken, they were shattered. Arthur had texted her earlier, asking if she wanted to meet up and hang out. She hadn't responded. She felt a bit guilty, for ignoring him, but she didn't feel like she could handle seeing him right now. It would inevitably lead to them remembering what the whole gang used to do. Vivi didn't feel like she could reminisce just yet. Honestly, she didn't feel like she could even handle talking to anyone right now, let alone talking to Arthur.   
  
Her parents had called her earlier, and she'd been quick to end that conversation as fast as she could. She was still so angry with them. They'd always said they were wasting their lives. Said that she were do much better just going to college, instead of wasting her time with the boys that they described as "dead beats". When she came home after the accident, they said something similar.  
  
That they were wasting their lives, and Lewis had paid for their foolishness.   
  
She'd moved out immediately. Spent awhile with Arthur, gotten a job at Tomb Tome and saved up to get the apartment that she lived in now. All their jobs for Mystery Skulls with cancelled, with no real guarantee that they'd ever get back to it. They very thought of Mystery Skulls permanently disbanding made her angry. Yet she didn't think she was going to able to do anything about it. Laying on a cheap little couch in her even cheaper apartment, what could she do.  
  
She couldn't go out alone. As surprisingly helpful as Mystery was in dangerous situations, there would be times when the little dog couldn't help her. So unless Arthur ever felt up to going out again, that was it. She'd either have to give up or find someone else to adventure with. It wouldn't feel right though, it'd always been her Arthur, Lewis and Mystery. No one else could do it. She'd just have to hope Arthur would want to go out again.  
  
Getting up off the couch she looked around her dark apartment. Certainly sitting alone in the dark was no way to spend her birthday, she still didn't want to go out to see Arthur. Grabbing a coat that was strewn on the floor, it was actually Arthur's coat, and was out the door in a flash. Ignoring the little look that Mystery gave her as he looked at her leave.  
  
She'd apologize for leaving the little guy alone later, for now, she just needed a long walk. Maybe she'd go down to the local pizza parlor and get something special to eat.

* * *

 Vivi ended up wandering the streets of town without doing anything, well past eleven. Lost in thought, she didn't even notice the sun go down.   
  
It seemed that instead of being the calming walk that she had planned for, the longer she spent walking the angrier she got. Anger at what, she didn't seem to know anymore, but God she was angry.   
  
Angry at her parents for their on feeling words. Angry at the world for being so happy despite her loss. For Arthur and Mystery not being able to do anything to save Lewis. Angry at herself for suggesting they split up in that damned cave to begin with. Angry at Lewis' parents, for having been so kind to her even after her being the reason her son was in the cave he died in anyways.  
  
Lewis' funeral was in a couple weeks. There was no body for them to bury, and that was her fault to. Right now, she was on the fence on whether to go or not. 

The rattling sound of a trash can getting knocked over drew Vivi out of her thoughts. Her eyes were drawn down a dark alley. Now she knew it was stupid, but as she went down the alley to find the source of the noise, she justified the action with the fact that she'd experienced a bit more than just the casual street mugging. Holding her keys between her fingers, hand clenched in a tight fist, she went down the alley. Almost looking for an excuse to vent some anger.  
  
Her footsteps echoed quietly. She'd learned long ago how to keep quiet. With the type of things the gang had gone up against in the past, she knew all to well how to avoid drawing attention to herself. 

The alley ended in a tall chain link fence. She huffed angrily. She needed something to happen. Anything to break the lull of nothing that had been her life since the accident. She was tired of being sad. Vivi kicked the fence with an angry shout.  
  
"Somebody has anger issues."  
  
She turned around instantly to face whoever had snuck up on her.  
  
It was a woman, brown hair, tan skin. Nothing out of the ordinary. But Vivi felt as if something was off about them.  
  
"What do you want."  
  
"Just out on the town, looking for a good drink. How about you, you're the one skulking about in alley ways yelling."  
  
Vivi glared at the woman. The somewhat ethereal beauty that the stranger had about them was lost upon Vivi. She was to caught up in her anger to care right now. Stomping back out of the alley, she ignored the woman.  
  
Just as she passed by her though, the woman grabbed her. Throwing Vivi off balance the woman wrapped her arm around Vivi's neck holding her against her body.  
  
"Hey now, no need for that."  
  
She pulled down the high collar on Vivi's top, exposing her neck.  
  
"I told you I was looking for a drink..."  
  
Vivi mentally kicked herself. A vampire. Of course.  
  
"Just hold still, you're a pretty one. Maybe I won't drink you dry."  
  
Vivi weighed her options. She could fight back, and inevitably lose, because apartment keys weren't exactly the correct tool to use against a vampire. 

Or she could accept it.  
  
The vampire nuzzled her face against Vivi's neck, making a show about sniffing her skin.   
  
The vampire open their mouth, Vivi could feel the unnaturally cold breath. It seemed as if this would almost be a most fitting end to her life.  
  
Just as the cold teeth started to press against her skin, Vivi's phone started ringing. She recognized the familiar tune, the special ring tone that she had set for Arthur.  
  
What was she doing? It was her birthday and here she was about to let a vampire eat her. Who would that leave Arthur with? Mystery and his uncle?  
  
No. She wouldn't have it.  
  
Slamming her elbow in the vampires side she span around and out of their reach.   
  
"You little brat!" the vampire snapped, moving forward to grab at her again.   
  
Vivi used all her anger to fuel her attack. She punched the vampire in the eye. With the fist that still had her keys clenched in it.  
  
The woman howled in pain and anger, grabbing at her bleeding eye. Vivi took this chance to run, she knew good and well that she couldn't take it down alone. Her phone was going crazy, different ring tones were going off left and right. She kept running though. She had to get home.  
  
God she regretted it, she regretted having wasted her day feeling sorry for herself. For ignoring Arthur, for leaving Mystery all alone in her little apartment. While the walk had just made her angry, this run was making her strangely hopeful.  
  
A vampire. Their could be more. It could be a great opportunity to get back to work. Her doubts about Arthur were long gone, he may say he's a coward but she knew he wouldn't let something dangerous go about hurting others.   
  
She was going to get home, and then call Arthur back. If there was one thing she needed to remember about Lewis - it was that friends shouldn't be taken for granted.   
  
Running out of breath as she neared her building, she slowed down and pulled out her phone. Checking to see how many calls she'd missed from Arthur. It was to her surprise to find more than just Arthur on her missed calls list.  
  
She stepped inside the buildings lobby and called her voice-mail.  
  
 _"First message. Hey Viv, it's Arthur. You didn't respond to my text, so just calling to make sure you're okay. Love ya, Happy Birthday."_  
  
 _"Second message. Vivi? You doing alright. Sorry, for uh, well a lot of stuff, but just text me okay? Love you."_  
  
 _"Third message. Okay sorry for being so clingy, but I'm at your place. Where are you? Mystery keeps whining, come back soon okay? Be safe, love you."_  
  
 _"Fourth message. Yo Vivs. It's Lance? Um, Arthur's uncle? You remember me right? Arthur just called me, he's pretty worried about you? Be safe kiddo. You've had it rough lately I know, but hey you're not alone. If you ever need someone to talk to. I'm here for you too - You kids mean so much to me, be safe girly and Happy Birthday."_  
  
 _"Fifth message. Hey honey, it's Lewis' mom. Happy Birthday honey. You doing okay? Arthur called us. Be safe darling, we love you, me and the rest of the family. You and Arthur have always been there for Lew. I don't want you to be hurt or sad honey, if you ever need someone to just talk to. We're here for you, we're all here for you. Be safe, love you VIvi."_  
  
 _"End messages."_

Tears were in her eyes. Grasping her phone tightly she ran to the elevator. Hopefully Arthur was still in her room. She had wasted her day, but she wouldn't waste her life. How could she even think of giving up to a vampire, or giving up Mystery Skulls? She couldn't waste her life, she couldn't waste Lewis'. She'd make it all mean something.

  
And it would start with this.   
  
Stepping into the elevator and hitting her room floor she smiled.  
  
"Thanks guys."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, if y'all see any errors or such tell me and I'll correct them. <3 Sort of combined prompts from Saro & Sororia04 - birthdays and vampires. Not really what was prompted but it's what happened! Also sorry for the long wait, I'm back in school and I've been hella busy with other work. Anywho - have a nice day!


End file.
